The $708,707 project follows an $8.8 million overhaul completed in 2007.
Single-lane closures are expected this fall and winter on the Riverton-Belvidere free bridge linking Northampton and Warren counties, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced Monday.
The commission on Monday awarded a $708,707 contract for repairs needed, in part, because of stress caused by overweight trucks crossing the span.
Built in 1904 and posted with an 8-ton limit, this bridge sees more frequent overweight violations than any of the commission's 19 other Delaware River crossings, according to the announcement.
Road-Con Inc., of West Chester, Pennsylvania, submitted the lowest responsible bid to win the contract.
Toll bridge commissioners last October awarded a separate $517,000 contract for repairs to the structure. The commission in 2007 celebrated an $8.8 million rehabilitation of the bridge.
The new round of repairs is scheduled to begin in September and continue for an estimated four months. Once construction starts, the commission plans to release a schedule of lane closures requiring flagging operations.
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Work will include gusset plate connection repairs, repair of lower chord members and end post repairs. The project will also include slope stabilization improvements on both sides of the two-lane truss bridge connecting the Martins Creek-Belvidere Highway in the Riverton section of Lower Mount Bethel Township to Water Street in Belvidere.
The commission zeroed in on the repairs needed via a 2014 bridge monitoring study on the Riverton-Belvidere bridge, aimed at a better understanding of the effects of overweight vehicles.
"This investment in the Riverton-Belvidere crossing is a reflection of the commission's ongoing commitment to proactively addressing our transportation infrastructure," said Joseph J. Resta, commission executive director, in a statement. "This project also underscores why the commission has weight restrictions on so many of its aging small-volume truss spans.
"A superstructure like the one at Riverton-Belvidere was constructed in the early 1900s before the advent of mass-produced automobiles. It wasn't built to handle the weights of some of the larger trucks that are in existence today."
The 112-year-old bridge replaced a previous wooden bridge - the second timber structure at the location - that was washed away in the "Pumpkin Flood" of Oct. 10, 1903. The first wooden bridge at this location was a privately owned covered, wooden structure that opened as a tolled crossing in 1836.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.