The bridge that carries Southwestern Boulevard over Sulphur Spring Road in Arbutus is getting a $1.3 million facelift after an inspection last summer determined it was “structurally deficient,” according to the State Highway Administration.

Construction on the bridge has begun and will last until next spring, as crews replace the bridge’s entire concrete driving surface and parts of its steel support structure, said Charlie Gischlar, an SHA spokesman.

The bridge was built in 1947 and last updated in 1978, Gischlar said.

Traffic on Sulphur Spring Road, such as patrons coming and going from the nearby Arbutus Library, will likely be unaffected.

But traffic on the four lanes of Southwestern Boulevard will be condensed to one lane in each direction, starting next month, as crews shut down half the bridge at a time to make the repairs, Gischlar said.

The bridge is just east of downtown Arbutus and just north of the Halethorpe MARC station.

The structure carries more than 11,000 vehicles a day, according to an April SHA report on deficient bridges.

Motorists and MARC train riders are being urged by the SHA to plan for extra travel time or use alternate travel routes throughout the summer.

Statewide, there were 114 “structurally deficient” bridges as of April 1, according to the SHA report, which called the rating an “early warning sign for engineers to use to prioritize funding and to initiate repairs or to begin the process to replace the bridge.”

Two other bridges just north of Sulphur Spring Road — one that carries the Baltimore Beltway over Southwestern Boulevard, Leeds Avenue and the Amtrak and MARC lines and another that carries I-695 over Benson Avenue — are also labeled “structurally deficient,” and designs for their replacement or repair are underway, according to the report.

Both of those bridges were built in 1957.

The bridge over Sulphur Spring Road warranted the deficient label because of the deterioration of its concrete deck, or driving surface, according to Robert Healy, deputy director of the SHA’s Office of Bridge Development.

“Over time, you can only repair so many potholes,” Healy said.

Currently, the bridge’s concrete deck is covered by a cracking layer of asphalt — a sign of its dated construction, Healy said.

“That’s something we stopped doing many years ago,” he said. “Asphalt overlays sometimes tend to collect salt and contribute to deterioration.”

The new bridge deck will be made completely of “modern concrete,” Healy said, which is “pretty durable now and pretty impermeable.”

Also being replaced are the bridge’s sidewalks; its two outermost steel support beams; its expansion bearings, which allow it to expand and contract during temperature changes, and several smaller support structures.

The contractor for the project is the Joseph B. Fay Co., of Baltimore.

The SHA has also come up with an innovative plan to address another problem with the bridge, Healy said.

“There are complaints from people walking under the bridge getting hit” with the feces of pigeons nesting under the bridge, he said — so the SHA is planning on installing mesh netting on the underside of the bridge to prevent pigeons from nesting there.

“It’s kind of an unusual feature,” Healy said. “We’ll see how it works, and if it looks promising, it might be something we try on other bridges.”

Aside from the reduction in lanes on Southwestern Boulevard, temporary lane closures may also occur between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.

Citizens with questions about the project may call the SHA at 1-800-962-3077 or e-mail shadistrict4@sha.state.md.us.

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