Beginning Monday, April 21, Featherbed Lane will be closed to through traffic while crews make safety improvements to the bridge over Catoctin Creek in Loudoun County. It is necessary to close the bridge to traffic during reconstruction, as crews will temporarily brace, install temporary supports and raise the bridge truss off its stone masonry abutments. Crews will then remove and replace the truss bearings, remove the existing timber deck and railings, and replace them with a new glue-laminated deck and railings.

The current bridge structure was last reconstructed in 1925. It is more than 158-feet long and features stone masonry abutments and a timber deck and railings. It is currently posted for 12-ton weight limit, but the improvements will allow the limit to be raised to 16 tons. The bridge is designated as a National Historic Landmark and carries an average of 280 vehicles per day.

Message boards alerting motorists of the closure are posted. Motorists will be detoured along Featherbed Lane.

The nearly $1 million project is scheduled to be completed no later than September 1, 2003.

# # #

Page last modified: April 17, 2003