State Closes Buckingham Bridge

Drivers who regularly use Burnt House Hill Road in Buckingham Township will have to follow a detour for awhile.

PennDOT on Wednesday closed the small bridge that carries the road over Watson Creek, citing severe structural damage.

A PennDOT engineer was in the area Wednesday morning checking a shoulder on the road, PennDOT spokesman Eugene Blaum said that afternoon.

Since he was already in the area, he decided to check on the small bridge, which already had been on a state list of "structurally deficient" bridges.

What he found surprised him.

"While he was there, he took a look at the bridge and saw a large hole in the stone wall," Blaum said. "It’s about 4 feet long by 4 feet wide, and 3 feet deep - it's a sizeable hole."

The bridge had last been inspected in March, Blaum said.

Photographs of the bridge taken by DoylestownPatch in April reveal no such hole.

Blaum said the department isn't sure when the damage occurred. But it certainly could have happened after the significant rains that caused local flooding during Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee earlier this month, he said.

It's not yet clear how long the bridge might be closed. Blaum said the next step is for PennDOT's bridge engineers to do a further evaluation of the damage. Once they determine how extensive the damage is, they'll be able to determine who extensive the repairs will have to be, he said.

The Burnt House Hill Road bridge is a small stone arch bridge located between the intersections of Church Road and June Meadow Drive.

Built in 1851, it is 12 feet long, 18 feet wide and carries an average of 1,500 vehicles a day.

The posted detour will take drivers over Route 202, Route 413 and Mechanicsville Road. PennDOT said local access will be maintained on Burnt House Hill Road up to the bridge itself.