Recently Completed: Frederick County – Route 723 (Carpers Valley Road) Opequon Creek Bridge

This project replaces the Route 723 (Carpers Valley Road) Opequon Creek bridge and approaches. The current single-lane bridge was built in 1918 and has reached the end of its service life.

The bridge will be replaced by a new two-lane structure 30 feet 4 inches wide. The length and alignment of the new structure will remain similar to the existing 87-foot long bridge.

This project enhances safety on Route 723 by replacing a deteriorating bridge structure with a new bridge that is able to support modern traffic both in volume and vehicle weights.

In 2016, Route 723 had an average daily traffic count of 1,130 vehicles per day. By the design year of 2036 the estimated average daily traffic volume is 1,300 vehicles per day.

During the design phase, the estimate for this project was $1,888,605, with $385,000 for preliminary engineering, $40,489 for right-of-way and utilities and $1,430,177 for construction.

Benefits 

This project enhances safety on Route 723 by replacing a deteriorating single-lane bridge structure with a new two-lane bridge that is able to support modern traffic both in volume and vehicle weights. If not replaced, the existing bridge will continue to deteriorate and would eventually have to be closed to vehicular traffic.