A decades old "singing bridge" in Dover Township is slated to be replaced later this year.

The open steel grid South Salem Church Road bridge over the Little Conewago Creek was deemed structurally deficient by the state Department of Transportation and will be replaced with a concrete bridge, said Mike Crochunis, PennDOT spokesman.

"Over time you just have deterioration of the bridge," he said.

The project will cause a section of South Salem Church Road to be closed until the fall. The road will be closed between Emig Mill and Taxville roads starting Tuesday.

A detour will be set up and will take motorists on Admire, North Biesecker and East Berlin roads.

Open steel: The existing bridge was build in 1938 using a popular material of the time -- steel -- causing it to look more like a giant grate than a bridge.

But the steel makes a singing noise when cars roll over it, giving it its nickname, a "singing bridge," Crochunis said.

Over the years, the steel has shown its age and has been battered by the elements.

"It's a steel open grid deck ... and the past dozen or so years we've been patching it," Crochunis said.

The bridge averages 5,500 vehicles daily.

The new pre-stressed concrete bridge will accommodate two 11-foot lanes and two six-foot shoulders.

The $1.1 million project was awarded to Kinsley Construction Inc. The contract includes demolition of the existing bridge, construction of a new concrete bridge, drainage work, roadway approach construction, guiderail installation and new traffic lines.

While the warm winter will allow construction crews to get an early start on the project, it might be necessary for the crews to return next year to pave the bridge approaches, Crochunis said.

-- Reach Greg Gross at 505-5434, ggross@yorkdispatch.com, or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/greggrss.