(July 23, 2014) – Beginning Friday, July 25, 2014, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) will start a project to paint and clean five bridges on state-maintained roads in Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester Counties.   The work will occur seven days-a-week during daytime hours only and is expected to be complete by mid-August, weather permitting.

Motorists should see painting crews on site at each of the bridges this Friday through Sunday, July 25-27, setting up equipment and doing prep work at each of the five locations. The cleaning and painting, primarily on the structural steel underneath the roadways, will be done on the following bridges:

These are the first five of a total of 10 bridges in the three counties that will be cleaned and painted in the three lower Eastern Shore Counties this year.  The total contract for the maintenance work for all of the bridges is $1,025,400 and was awarded to Reglas Painting and Construction, Baltimore.

All of the bridges are fixed spans and no lane closures or detours will be required.  All staging areas for equipment will be on the road shoulders of each bridge maintenance project.

Cleaning and painting the bridges  preserves existing steel sections and protects them from  corrosion which could cause expensive and time consuming repairs and bridge closures in the future. Early this fall SHA will announce the locations and work hours for the remaining five bridges to be repainted in Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester Counties.

While SHA and its transportation partners work hard to maintain safe traffic mobility in work zones, each driver needs to actively modify his or her driving style to help prevent crashes. Stay alert and look for reduced speed limits, narrow driving lanes and highway workers.  Slow down and don’t follow too closely. Safe driving. Safe work zones. For everyone!