The West Hickory Bridge over the Allegheny River (West Hickory, PA) is offered for disposal/preservation by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. It is on the National Register, but it has to go.

This was originally a combination railroad/highway toll bridge, but it is one lane for highway and slated for replacement. It's still in use today, but scheduled for removal this summer.

It was originally used by the Hickory Valley Railroad to connect with the PRR at West Hickory, PA. When the railroad was abandoned in 1938 it was redecked as a highway bridge only.

I'm not sure if the links will work this way, but here's the PADOT page - PADOT - historic bridges - West Hickory Bridge
http://www.dot.state.pa.us/penndot/Bure ... AutoFramed

This is a pin-connected truss so it could likely be dissassembled and moved. Five span, built in 1896, 695' total span.

If anybody is actually interested, contact me offline and I'll provide more information. Historically, it handled at least 50-ton locos but I don't know the rating - I'd suspect about 70 ton original design max.

I've got additional photos posted on my website at:
http://gustafson.home.westpa.net/wdtoday.htm

I do not know who to contact but Western Maryland Scenic may well need a bridge for a relocated interchange track spanning the C&O Canal in Cumberland, MD. I will see if I can find a contact.

John Bohon

Roger that, but we are the engineers for the WMSR! Whatever is decided, they're going to have to put 734 over it, which is a little heavy for that bridge. As far as I know, the heaviest rail load over it was probably the 47-ton Heisler and 50-ton 40' cars (up to 1938) of the HVRR

I figure it's probably toast, but I'd never feel right if I didn't even try. When that bridge was redecked just before WWII, my mom had to walk across it in the winter, on an icy boardwalk with a rope handrail - just to get to work every day. It's part of family legend.

We run into historic-designated railroads that have an equally difficult time trying to replace 'historic' bridges with current standard designs. Long shot, but I'll give it a try.

This bridge looks like it would be a great fit for a light rail/heritage trolley operation, though I can't think of any who would be looking at new engineering requiring such a span--or being allowed to use such a low rated bridge (Cooper E-50?) in new engineering.

Alternately--narrow gauge??

Michael Seitz
Missoula MT

While it would probqbly be tough to move and re-use this bridge for rail use, there are other opportunities to preserve the engineering and history of the span. Can anyone say Rail-Trails? Or what about for pedestrian use? Seems there is a not too elegant ped crossing bridge at Steamtown to get to the mall. And the bridge and Steamtown are both in PA.

Or perhaps a single span of this to access a Museum main campus from across the road parking.

Of course the real bottom line is money. Most volunteer organizations here are very limited in available capital and most of what can be budgeted necessarily goes toward the equipment.

Bob Kutella

Bob, that's a really good comment. Because it is originally a railroad bridge (one lane) and pin-connected (removable), it might be ideal for rails to trails applications. That got my wheels cranking here. We also run into issues where the 'rails vs. trails' gets into a two-track main line ROW with one remaining bridge where we have to suggest an alternative bridge approach for the trail.... we come across ROW's with two-track abutments and one remaining bridge, just odds are against you on anything fitting on multiple span.

I'm taking a wild guess that it was probably built for about 70-ton gross rail loadings (50-ton net loads) during that 1890's era. I don't think it has any vehicle weight restriction on it; not sure, but PADOT has been inspecting it regularly and can likely provide current condition data. If you were re-using it for rail, it would have to be thoroughly inspected upon dissasembly looking for cracks, etc. The killer on the bridge that demands replacement is a one-lane 700' bridge across a river. I've nearly had a couple head-ons on it myself.

I worry about the state of the steel itself. I work for a government agency with a similar style and aged bridge in NJ. It was rusted so badly you could literally place your hand through the web of some of the members. Rust everywhere from 100 years of continual use and salt for winter weather. And believe it or not it was still open to daily traffic, but with a 10 ton limit.

This year we installed a new bridge adjacent to the old, but are required to restore the old bridge because it is historic. It will be a fishing and walking bridge. And it will still be a maintenance hassle due to limited vehicle access for inspections.

Chris

Randy-
We were just involved in the recent preservation of a similar bridge here, which was only ever used for highway/ roadway use. In this case, it was systematically disassembled, and will be used in the Pine River Nature Center locally as a pedestrian/ ATV/ Parks Vehichle access bridge acorss the same river its sat over for years ---- just farther downstream.
Alterntaively, is there any way possible it could be disassembled and stored for the time being, to keep it from becoming razor blades?

TJG

As someone who has been involved in bridge preservation (specifically, covered bridges) for almost longer than he's been in rail preservation, I would advise in the strongest possible terms against this.

The track record will show that most bridges that are "dismantled and stored" with the intent of eventual reconstruction tend to languish for years, or even decades, without ever being re-used. I can rattle off numerous examples, but for starts I'll mention:
*The Lombard Street Bridge in Baltimore, an iron bridge removed to a wooded lot along the Baltimore Streetcar Museum's tracks near the Ma & Pa Roundhouse in the 1970s and languishing there to this day.
*an iron bridge sitting in the parking lot of the Railroad Museum of Pa., removed by Amtrak from nearby Ronks and placed there without firm plans or future--and meanwhile, there's talk of ANOTHER span from Ardmore, Pa. joining that one. Lots of folks would love to see a pedestrian overpass of adjacent Pa. Rt. 741 between the Strasburg RR and Museum, but good luck finding the money for something with the ADA-required elevators, etc. Oh, and did I mention the PRR metal SIGNAL bridge from Cove, Pa. they supposedly have out back?

My personal advice is NEVER to commit to moving or "storing" a bridge until a firm plan is in plac e to site it--meaning, if possible, the abutments should be waiting for it before the cranes show up at the original location.

Anyone wishing to explore historic bridges further would be well-advised to consult the following site, especially for the links in the left column. Even if you don't have any need for a bridge now, you might in the future!

http://www.iceandcoal.org/bridges/bridgenews.html