(WHTM) -- PennDOT crews spent the weekend of August 20 working on repairs on the I-83 South Bridge.
The repairs started Friday night, shutting down two lanes on I-83 southbound.
"It's over 60 years old," PennDOT District 8 community relations coordinator Dave Thompson said of the bridge. "As they get older, they need a little bit more TLC and care."
It is just routine maintenance.
"This isn't a catastrophe waiting to happen or anything like that," Thompson said.
PennDOT crews are repairing expansion dams. These allow the bridge to expand and contract without buckling when the temperature changes.
"They get a lot of wear and tear just from weather and from many, many vehicles, trucks and cars driving over them over time," Thompson said.
This is the first of three weekends PennDOT has repairs planned. Crews will be back on the bridge Aug. 26-29 and again Sept. 16-19.
"We just urge people to slow down, be patient," Thompson said.
Earlier this year, the South Bridge was also part of a PennDOT plan to impose tolls on up to nine bridges. That plan was struck down in June by a state court.
"That's going to be a challenge moving forward, that's for sure," Thompson said.
Thompson said revenue from those tolls would have gone towards maintenance like these expansion dam repairs. Now, the agency has to find a different source of funding.
"A worst case scenario would be us to actually have to close a bridge," Thompson said. "That's not our goal. Our plan is to keep them open, keep everything moving efficiently as possible with the available funding that we do have."
This first round of repairs are scheduled to wrap up by 6 a.m. Monday, but drivers could still face some delays. The right lane of southbound I-83 will remain closed Monday, Aug. 22 through Thursday, Aug. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a bridge inspection.
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