Carbon County is working to prepare to improve on three bridges the county owns.

On Thursday, the board approved three proposals with Larson Design Group of Selinsgrove to prepare estimates for the rehabilitation/replacement of bridge 3; the replacement of bridge 4; and the rehabilitation of bridge 18.

Bridge 3 is located on East Penn Street over Mahoning Creek in Lehighton. Bridge 4 is on Grist Mill Drive over Quakake Creek in Packer Township. Bridge 18 is along Tannery Road over the Lehigh River in Kidder Township.

The cost for each proposal estimate is $750.

Commissioners’ Chairman Mike Sofranko said that it was through a lot of hard work by Commissioner Rocky Ahner, as well as Valerie A. Saveri, the county grants coordinator and county administrator Eloise Ahner, that the county was at this point with these bridges.

“I think a lot of praise goes to where they are, from Rocky pushing that to Val and our county administrator, that we were able to get three bridge proposals ready,” Sofranko said. “That was a huge lift.”

In January, the county said that bridge 3 needs approximately $150,000 in work for deck and beam repairs after filling in several potholes that were appearing on the decking. A few months later, the county approved a proposal from United Inspection Services of Jim Thorpe for the collection of concrete for core sampling at a cost of $2,600; and another proposal from RJ Lee Group of Pittsburgh for testing of the concrete core sample at a cost of $2,433. The sample analysis would help determine if the bridge can be refurbished or if it needs a complete replacement.

Bridge 4 is a 31-foot concrete encased rolled steel I-beam bridge constructed in 1913. According to a state inspection in 2022, there were several I-beams that could not carry the legal loads safely.