Construction of a bridge on Derrick Road (Route 346), spanning Foster Brook in Foster Township, is scheduled to begin soon as part of the Pennsylvania Department Transportation’s Rapid Bridge Replacement Project.

Replacement of the bridge will allow PennDOT to remove the structure from the county’s structurally deficient bridge list, Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners officials announced.

Work is expected to begin next week and be completed by mid-August. During this time, traffic will be controlled by temporary signals that enforce alternating lane pattern.

Meanwhile, construction of the Olean Road (Route 646) bridge, spanning Pennbrook Run in Foster Township, about a mile north of the village of Gilmore, has been pushed from July 2017 to 2018.

“The reasoning for this setback is due to permitting, utility relocations and Right of Way which drove the schedule too late in the year, so starting construction in 2018 was the best option,” officials said.

These two bridges are part of more than 530 bridges being replaced under the Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. The Rapid Bridge Replacement Project is a public-private partnership between PennDOT and Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners, under which PWKP will finance, design, replace, and maintain the bridges for 25 years. The P3 approach will allow PennDOT to replace the bridges more quickly while achieving significant savings and minimizing impact on motorists, officials said.