LANDINGVILLE - The 89-year-old bridge along Main Street is down to one lane and, if it closes, could cause delays for emergency personnel.
"Is it going to impact response time, probably a little bit," if the bridge is closed, said John Matz, Schuylkill County's emergency management coordinator.
Emergency personnel might need to take a different route but Matz could not say how much additional time it would take to get to where they were dispatched.
"It really comes down to where the incident occurs," Matz said.
A phone call to Landingville fire Chief David Hoffman was not returned Monday and a representative from Orwigsburg Ambulance was unable to comment on response times.
On Thursday, PennDOT reduced the bridge to one lane due to what it said at the time was settlement of the piers on the concrete arch bridge. Since then, PennDOT has issued another statement that reads, "the settlement does not appear to be on the piers as originally reported. The settlement appears to have occurred in fill material housed between the concrete arch and the roadway ..."
The statement goes on to say that the material could have settled, resulting in a 3 1/2-inch depression in the road. Traffic will be reduced to a single lane until further notice, according to PennDOT.
Ron Young Jr., a spokesman for PennDOT District 5, said workers discovered the problem during a routine inspection of the bridge Thursday, which is done every two years.
"There's no settlement of the bridge," he said by phone Monday, adding that "the lane that is open is safe."
There are currently no plans to close the bridge, he said.
"State Route 2011 bridge" is the official name of the bridge, Young said. A county plaque on the bridge states it was built in 1923.
In 1983, "minor structural work, concrete patching and new support straps" were done to the bridge, Young said.
About 970 vehicles travel the bridge daily, according to PennDOT.
Young said PennDOT is reviewing information to determine the next course of action.
"We always are on the side of caution and safety," he said.
Lisa Mahal, county engineer, said she did not know anything about the bridge.
Matz said he would have to notify responding agencies if the bridge were to close.
"Normally, if they're closing a bridge, it's a planned event," he said.
Traffic isn't the only thing that would be impacted if the bridge would close - the U.S. Geological Survey measures the Schuylkill River in Landingville.
A manual reading gauge is attached to the bridge and could be replaced if needed; however, if the structure of the bridge is changed, new readings would need to be taken to determine high water levels, said Mark Beaver, hydrologic surveillance section chief, New Cumberland, with the U.S. Geological Survey.
"If they don't change the piers, it's not a big deal," he said.
Readings are also calculated and posted on the Internet by a float system in a building not far from the river. A pipe runs from the river to a basement in the building, he said.