Reports that the Hokendauqua-North Catasauqua Bridge won't be open to traffic until July 2015 are unfounded.

Rick Molchany, Lehigh County director of general services, told The Press regular update meetings with the contractor indicate it will be open a few months earlier – in April 2015.

Molchany shed some light on why the bridge will not be finished this fall. For one thing, the past winter took a toll on construction. Another delay was caused by construction of the first massive pier on the Hokendauqua side of the span, he said.

According to Molchany the contractor had a difficult time, hitting bedrock for the pier construction. This gobbled up funding for several piers and required additional time.

Reports that the contractor, whose firm is also working on the American Parkway project in Allentown and the Lehigh River Bridge, pulled workers to the Allentown site are unfounded, Molchany said.

Progress is being made now, particularly with the dry summer weather.

So far, no schedule is set for putting the decking on the bridge.

The Coplay-Northampton Bridge is next in line for reconstruction. As soon as the Hokendauqua-North Catasauqua Bridge is open, construction will begin on the Coplay-Northampton span. This will be another two-year project.