Historic Chesco Stone Bridge Reconstruction Begins Soon

EAST NANTMEAL — A 117-year-old stone bridge that carries Mansion road over French Creek in Warwick and East Nantmeal township is getting rehabilitation work starting Feb. 22.

Brower’s Bridge in northwestern Chester County will be closed for the work the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today.

During rehabilitation of the 25-foot-long and 15-foot-wide single-span stone arch bridge, PennDOT’s contractor will conserve the original plaque and brick frame on the structure, which is listed with the National Register of Historic Places and part of the Reading Furnace Historic District.

Other improvements to the bridge include, masonry cleaning, repointing, scour protection and milling and paving of the roadway.

During the closure, Mansion Road motorists will be directed to use Route 401 (Conestoga Road), Route 345 (Bulltown Road), Route 23 (Ridge Road), Morningside Road, and Reading Furnace Road, beginning Feb. 22, through the completion of the project, expected to be late in May.

Local access will be maintained up to the construction zone.

Brower’s Bridge (Mansion Road Bridge) is one of five structures in Chester, Montgomery and Delaware counties that PennDOT is repairing under a $4,948,703 project.
Structures completed under this project include:

• Kaolin Road Bridge over the west branch of Red Clay Creek in Kennett Township, Chester County; and
• Concord Road over Green Creek in Concord Township, Delaware County.

The other structures included in this bridge replacement/rehabilitation project include the following:

• Route 63 (Red Lion Road) over Huntingdon Valley Creek in Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County; and
• Route 320 (Trinity Lane) over Gulph Mills Creek in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County. Built in 1789, the Trinity Lane Bridge is also listed with the National Register of Historic Places and noted as the fifth oldest bridge in the Unites States of America.

J.D. Eckman, Inc. of Atglen, Chester County, is the general contractor on this bridge improvement project that is financed with 100 percent state funds. Work on the entire project is expected to be completed in early fall 2021.