Kaolin Road Bridge Is Open Again In Kennett Township

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — The bridge over Red Clay Creek in Kennett Township is open again after a rehab project that had rerouted nearly 8,000 vehicles a day for the last four months.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) on Thursday reopened the bridge that is part of Kaolin Road, as it crosses over the west branch of Red Clay Creek. Kaolin Road motorists for months have been directed to use Route 41 North or U.S. 1 North (Kennett Oxford Bypass), or Route 82 (Union Street).

PennDOT contractor J.D. Eckman began in July to replace the existing superstructure on the single span 60-year-old bridge that was 60 feet long and 44 feet wide. The structure carries an average of 7,607 vehicles a day. PennDOT estimated in July that the project could take until February 2021.

Kaolin Road Bridge is one of five structures in Chester, Montgomery and Delaware counties that PennDOT is repairing under a $4,948,703 project.

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

• Mansion Road over the south branch of French Creek in Warwick Township, Chester County. Built in 1904, Mansion Road Bridge, also called Brower’s Bridge, is listed with the National Register of Historic Places and a part of the Reading Furnace Historic District;
• Concord Road over Green Creek in Concord Township, Delaware County;
• 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 is the general contractor on this state-funded project. Work on the entire project is expected to be completed in late summer 2021, PennDOT said.