The work began at 9 a.m., and closed all westbound traffic for about four hours.

Joseph Litvin, Montgomery County Engineer, said a county engineer's employee observed a failure in the deck slab on Wednesday evening. Officials said a 2-by-5-foot section of the westbound lane collapsed with cement crumbling into the rusty steel bars underneath.

On Thursday morning, officials decided to keep the closure of that lane in place until a contractor begins a recently bid and awarded rehabilitation and repair contract costing approximately $700,000.

They also decided to reinforce the remaining lane with additional steel plates as a precautionary measure.

The Montgomery County Engineer will continue to monitor this situation to ensure the safety of the public on this bridge, one of more than 500 in the county.

Chief Deputy Paul Gruner with the Montgomery Co. Engineers Office said, “We would have done the work a long time ago had sufficient funds, but funding never seems to keep up with the need to repair and replace bridges.”

The ultimate solution is the total replacement of the bridge deck, which will cost between $6 million and $8 million, and is at least six years away given the current situation.

Gruner said, "Legislators and Congress need to be aware so the funding is there and get these things fixed sooner."

The county has not yet secured funding for this project because local, state, and federal funding for bridges has declined.