OIL CITY, Pa. – Improvement work is scheduled to begin Monday to replace a 91-year-old structurally deficient bridge on State Route 27 over a tributary to Little Sugar Creek in East Mead Township, Crawford County.

PennDOT Crawford County maintenance forces will replace the 19-foot-long State Route 27 (Washington) Bridge with a precast concrete box culvert.

Work is scheduled to begin Sept. 17, weather permitting, and is expected to be completed and the road opened by Oct. 1, 2012.

The cost of the culvert is approximately $89,000 and the supplier is the R.L. Johnson Construction Corp. of Kittanning, Pa.

The bridge was built in 1921 and carries an average of 3,200 vehicles a day.

Traffic Impact: Two detours will be posted, one for eastbound traffic and one for
westbound traffic.

The eastbound detour will use State Route 77 and State Route 198.

The westbound detour will use State Route 173 and State Route 322. The westbound detour is planned to avoid directing truck traffic onto the State Route 77 hill into Meadville.