This article is intended to update the residents of Douglass Township on the progress of the County Line Road Bridge Project.
Project Overview
On April 16, 2025, the Board of Supervisors made the decision to close the County Line Road Bridge after receiving an annual report from PennDOT stating that the bridge was structurally unsafe. Since April 16, 2025, Douglass Township Officials had to complete the following items in order to proceed with the design, construction and replacement of the County Line Road Bridge over Swamp Creek;
- Draft and execute construction easements with property owners on all sides of the bridge.
- Order PA1Call to identify all existing location of utilities on or around bridge.
- Apply and secure a GP11 Permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
- Work with Township Engineer to update bridge design to current PennDOT standards and create new cost estimate for project.
- Apply for grant funding through DVRPC for 80% of eligible costs of project and Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development to cover remaining 20% of costs for construction.
- Place project out for bidding.
The Douglass Township Board of Supervisors placed this project out to bid in July of 2026 and received four contract bids. The bids were received on 8/26/2026 and were opened publicly at 11:00AM.
The bids received for this project are listed as follows;
Richard E. Pierson - $1,595,792.00
Road-Con Inc. - $1,651,144.00
G&B Construction - $1,673,905.60
BI State Construction - $1,935,295.00
The Douglass Township Board of Supervisors awarded the contract to Richard E. Pierson in the amount of $1,595,792.00 at their regularly scheduled meeting held on Tuesday September 8, 2026.
A pre-construction meeting was held on October 21, 2026 with the contractor and affected utilities to discuss the construction schedule and project. A notice to proceed letter was issued by Douglass Township to Richard E. Peirson Construction Co., Inc. on the same date. This notice to proceed letter is for a 180-day contract in the amount of $1,595,792.00 with a completion date of April 19, 2027. An actual completion date of July 13, 2027 is expected due to additional requirements for plan review due to grant funding.
Due to this project being funded with a Federal and State grants, Douglass Township is required to forward any and all shop drawings and plans to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the DVRPC for approval. This is expected to add an additional 85 days to the project.
The actual construction of the pre cast concrete bridge is expected to take 18 weeks for fabrication. Demolition of the existing bridge structure is expected to begin in or around March 1, 2027, weather dependent.
R.E Pierson construction is committed to working with the Township diligently to avoid unnecessary delays in the process of producing shop drawings and fabricating the bridge.
Additional questions about this project can be directed to Douglass Township Manager David Thompson at dthompson@douglasstownship.org or 610-367-6062.
