Crews are finishing up the inspection of a heavily traveled bridge over the Meander Reservoir in Weathersfield Township. 

“There's a lot of traffic on there. Theirs between 3 to 4 thousand cars per day on this and a lot of commercial traffic,” Gary Shaffer, Trumbull County Deputy Engineer said. “If you don’t utilize this to get to the other side you have to go down to Mahoning Ave. and then all the way up to Salt Springs.”

Inspection is just one part of the multi-year project that's mostly funded by a $2 million grant from the state. Crews will inspect the concrete and look for soft or heavily damaged spots to fix in the partial repair. 

“This was constructed back in (19)29 there's been some minor maintenance on this bridge but the way it was constructed … It’s held up quite well,” Shaffer said.

The actual repairs on the bridge won’t start until 2025. 

“We’re going to rip the deck off so the asphalt, all the fill material down to the top of the arches will be removed and replaced.,” he said. “Then the railings that you see … and the curbs will be removed and new walls will be installed.”

The bridge goes over the Meander Reservoir - a major water supply to some of the Mahoning Valley. The Trumbull County Engineers have been working closely with Mahoning Valley Sanitary District during their process.

“If there's certain things we have to take into account when we’re doing the construction we absolutely will to protect the source water,” Shaffer said. 

The bridge will be back open to traffic on Saturday, August 26th and Shaffer reassures that it’s safe to drive on before the repairs are made. 

“This bridge is not in poor condition, it's actually in relatively good condition so it is very safe for travel. It’s not load posted for reduced loads so we're good to go,” he said. 

Starting on Monday, August 28 there will be divers in the water inspecting the pillars foundations under the surface.

Once the construction is done Shaffer said the bridge will not need this level of repairs for another 50 to 100 years.