JIM THORPE -- Between now and May, people in Jim Thorpe will have to put up with huge beams being delivered right through town. The big beams are for a new bridge that's being built along Route 903.
For the next few months, dozens of massive beams will be driven right through Jim Thorpe and those deliveries are likely to cause a bit of disruption to everyday business.
The flashing oversized load lights made their way into downtown Jim Thorpe, bringing in massive beams. It's all part of the Jim Thorpe Memorial Bridge project that's going to link Routes 209 and 903 in Carbon County.
The new bridge will cost about $28 million.
"It`s a big part of the whole job and the beams are extraordinarily large and it`s something that most people don`t get to see," said Transportation Construction Manager Calvin Ulshafer.
Construction Managers working on the project tell us the beams will range in size from 15 to 142 feet long.
The first delivery drew a crowd of onlookers, including Milton Suchon, who lives right in town.
"I thought the guy is a pretty good driver, you`d have to be to wheel that thing around, I guess. And he did a great job. I guess there`s three more coming," said Suchon.
Dozens of orange bags have been placed over parking meters all throughout the downtown as these beams are being brought in, impacting lots of businesses in Jim Thorpe.
"It certainly doesn`t help, but it has to be done and we just have to suck it up," said Noel Behan, owner of Molly Macguire's Pub and Restaurant in Jim Thorpe.
Those parking spaces are marked off in front of Molly Macguire's Pub and Restaurant, clearing the path for the oversized loads to turn around, or for emergency vehicle access if needed.
It's also disrupting the main entrance to the Carbon County Courthouse.
The almost 60 beams needed for the project are scheduled to come during lunchtime, impacting when prisoners will be taken in and out of the courthouse downtown.
"So that means we either have to start earlier or work later to get these people in and out and before the courts," said Carbon County Sheriff Dwight Nothstein.
PennDOT officials tell us all of the beams will be brought up from Lancaster by early May.
The entire project is scheduled to be completed in July of 2017.