County to help pay for Hometown trestle bridge inspection

Carbon County officials will spend approximately $15,500 to help pay for an inspection of the Hometown trestle bridge.

On Tuesday, the county railroad commission voted to pay half of the costs associated with the inspection of the 160-foot-high bridge that crosses the Little Schuylkill River in Hometown. Carbon County owns the bridge, as well as nearly 20 miles of rail lines from Jim Thorpe to near Marian Catholic High School in Schuylkill County.

The remaining costs will be covered by Reading and Northern Railroad, which manages the C&S Railroad for the county and uses the rail line for daily operations, the commission said.

Larson Design Group will complete the inspection at a cost not to exceed $31,000.

The commission also agreed to reimburse Reading and Northern the 50 percent match after a copy of the report from the inspection is received.

The Hometown High Bridge is an approximately 185-foot-long trestle bridge used for both freight and passenger trains. It was originally built with wood in the 1880s and rebuilt using steel in 1931 by the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

In 2011, a $1 million rehabilitation project was completed to maintain the integrity of the bridge. The project at the time included replacing 875 bridge timbers, installing new ties, resurfacing the bridge approaches, replacing rail with new welded rail and repairing all hand railings and walkways.

In other matters, the railroad commission voted to reimburse the county $7,600 for repairs to the fence along Route 209, which acts as a barrier between the highway and sidewalk and the rail bed below. The commission also approved the 2019 meeting dates. Meetings will be scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month with the exception of November and December, when no meetings are scheduled.