Over the past two years, Newtown Village Cemetery Association and Borough Board of Burgesses have been working on a footbridge for Ram Pasture. Construction has officially started on the new bridge. Dan Barron, the owner of Barron Civil Engineering and engineer on the project, expected construction to be done by Thursday, October 31, he told The Bee Monday.

The inspiration for the bridge, according to Greg Smith, is “accessibility.” He added that the project started “just with a simple thought that people should be able to access the other side of the pasture.”

“It’s mostly accessible … unless you want to cross Main Street, it’s hard to get to the other side,” Smith said.

The project was made possible with American Rescue Plan Act funds that Borough Board of Burgesses received after the pandemic.

Maureen Crick Owen, a burgess and president and sexton for Newtown Village Cemetery Association, said, “Without their funding, this project probably would not have happened for a very long time … so we were very, very lucky.”

The bridge is supported by precast concrete abutments, designed custom by Barron. The wood beams are “glulam beams … it’s 11 two-by-sixes that are essentially glued together and then bent into shape,” Barron explained.

He added, “Because it’s over a stream, we had to install what’s called helical piles, or screw piles, so each abutment has these little screw piles that go down into bedrock … that helps if any heavy rains were to happen.”

Crick Owen is going to have a formal dedication ceremony in the spring for the new bridge, but it will be available for public use as soon as construction is completed.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.