Swatara Township requests waivers for N. Lancaster St. bridge weight limit

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The Swatara Township Board of Supervisors gave updates on Sept. 11 on the North Lancaster Street Bridge over Oil Creek, which recently had a weight limit of 18 tons imposed following a bridge inspection.

Supervisors said they are considering getting another opinion and are not actively looking at repairing or replacing the bridge.

They also gave permission for township officials to submit waiver requests for fire company and township vehicles.

At the meeting, Kreitzer said the bridge’s maximum weight is 18 tons and 33 tons for combinations. He said some emergency vehicles will be able to pass over the bridge, but the Bunker Hill Fire Company’s tanker — and other local companies’ vehicles — will have to use other roads unless they can get special exemptions based on measurements.

“There is ways to get the fire truck across,” Kreitzer said. “They said about length of the truck, weight of the truck, axle to axle, do calculations, but I’ve already notified the 57 Group and Fredericksburg, but even Glenn Lebanon said they’re not going to be able to cross with their tanker, and the problem we have back there is chicken houses and turkey houses we’re not going to be able to get to unless we go all the way around, and the way these things are built, stuff burns to the ground quickly.”

Project manager Adam Keiper recommended the fire company take those measurements on anything they want to take over the bridge that exceeds the weight limit.

Township manager Jennifer Harding said she was told that any vehicles going over the bridge that exceed the weight limit without a waiver would be fined.

Supervisors had just received the report from Wilson Consulting Group at the August meeting and said they hadn’t had time to review it in-depth.

Read More: Swatara Township announces North Lancaster St. bridge’s 18-ton weight limit

Swatara Township previously put about $90,000 into the bridge’s maintenance in 2018 to address flood damage. Now, the bridge might be beyond repair.

“[Wilson] would recommend replacement because you’re going to put more money into it than what it’s worth,” Kreitzer said.

He said he directed township road crews to take a bucket of paving materials to fill in some cracks on the blacktop in an effort to prevent some further water damage.

In the meantime, Keiper said he said he will also come back to a future meeting with a cost estimate for another bridge study, though he said Wilson’s was “fairly conservative,” according to a traffic engineer.

“Engineers are all different,” Kreitzer said. “Maybe he’ll say it’s worse than what we think, maybe they’ll say it’s better than what we think. We’ll have to figure that out once we get a proposal on how much it’s going to cost.”

Supervisor Dean Patches said that whether they decide on repairs or replacement, they’ll now have to start considering how to financially prepare.

The report cited cracks, joints deteriorating, rust, and guardrail damage as the reasons for the weight limit, according to Kreitzer and Patches. They said the joint deterioration is the main concern because the inspectors are concerned about the bridge separating.

In other business, supervisors:

• Announced that Reginald Daubert, former supervisor and fire chief at Bunker Hill Fire Company, passed away. They held a moment of silence before the meeting for him and the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
• Voted to decrease a lien on 191 Moore Road from around $31,000 down to the township’s costs on the property, not to be below $3,000.
• Voted to make this year’s Trick or Treat night Oct. 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The Swatara Township Board of Supervisors will have its next regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 at 68 Supervisors Drive.