MILANVILLE, PA — Emergency repairs are about to start on the Skinners Falls-Milanville Bridge on Route 1002 in Wayne County, PA.

In early August, the PA Department of Transportation (PennDOT) removed a brace that had come loose and hung over the river, seeming to imperil river users who passed beneath the bridge and alarming local residents.

Bridge engineer Gerard Babinski assured Laurie Ramie, executive director of the Upper Delaware Council (UDC), that PennDOT engineers would return in a few weeks to a month to do a close inspection of the whole bridge, with rigging in place to protect the workers.

Jessica Ruddy, community relations coordinator for PennDOT’s Engineering District 4-0, said in an announcement August 29 that the engineers will:

• Remove loose bridge components;
• Install warning signs and buoys upstream and downstream of the bridge, and
• Install temporary protective netting to the superstructure as part of an Aids to Navigation Plan (ATON), which will restrict the navigable waterway under the bridge to protect boaters. An ATON plan has been created to show where the warning signs and buoys will be placed.

Work will continue through the fall.