Historic Mount Carbon bridge being reassembled at new home in Saint Clair

May 23—SAINT CLAIR — It was as if it were 1894 all over again.

Iron workers in overalls drove red-hot rivets into an iron beam of a historic bowstring iron truss bridge Tuesday morning, the same way it was done when the structure was put up 129 years ago over the Schuylkill River in Mount Carbon.

"We're one of the few companies left that do this kind of work," said Doug Lockhart, a blacksmith with Lockhart Iron Works, of Logan, Ohio. "Contractors stopped using them in the 1940s, but rivets are incredibly superior to bolts in securing joints."

Lockhart demonstrated the time-honored technique at Coal Creek Commerce Center, where the bridge is being placed over Mill Creek off Terry Rich Boulevard near Dunkin' and Vito's Coal Fired Pizza & Restaurant.

Disassembled last August, the bridge was refurbished at Lockhart Iron Works and is being reassembled at its new location.

Ronald J. Young Jr. PennDOT District 5 communications director, said it will be put in place over the creek in the next few weeks.

Young joined representatives of Schuylkill River Greenways and the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority to launch the final phase of a $2.9 million restoration and relocation project begun five years ago.

The bridge, which is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places because of its engineering significance, will become a link between Saint Clair and Frackville for hikers and bicyclists on the 120-mile Schuylkill River Trail.

Storied history

Kristina L. Thompson, PennDOT cultural resources supervisor, said the bridge was set in place near Mount Carbon Arch Road in 1894.

It's one of only three bowstring iron truss bridges remaining in Pennsylvania.

The other two are Henszey's Bridge at Central Penn College in Cumberland County and Messerall Bridge in Pymatuning State Park in Crawford County.

At Mount Carbon, the bridge carried vehicular and pedestrian traffic until 1926, when the existing concrete bridge was constructed linking Route 61 and Mount Carbon.

While it played an important part in the history of bridge building in the U.S. and Pennsylvania, there came a point when the bridge was no longer able to meet the demands of modern traffic, according to Thompson.

When it was lifted from its berth over the Schuylkill on Aug. 24, the 18.5-ton bridge had sat idle for 96 years. It served primarily as a conduit for SCMA water pipes.

Thompson heralded the partnership between PennDOT, Schuylkill River Greenways, the municipal authority and Reading Anthracite in bringing about its long-term preservation.

"The adaptive reuse of this bridge, relocated only 4 miles from where it initially stood, fit perfectly into the mission of PennDOT's multimodal program catering to pedestrians and bicyclists," Thompson said.

Pride in preservation

When Executive Director Patrick M. Caulfield was asked if the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority owned the bridge in 2018, he had to do some research to find out.

As it turns out, the Schuylkill County commissioners deeded the bridge to the authority in 1974.

As part of the relocation project, the authority sold the bridge to PennDOT for $1, Caulfield said. When it is in place, PennDOT will turn ownership over to Schuylkill River Greenways, which manages the Schuylkill River Trail.

The authority, Caulfield said, made a considerable investment in the project: It relocated water pipes beneath the Schuylkill River in Mount Carbon, as well as along Mill Creek in Saint Clair.

And, he said, the authority has entered into an agreement with Schuylkill River Greenways to extend the trail over the former Philadelphia & Reading Railroad bed, which the authority owns.

"It's humbling to think that this new trail will follow the same path of billions of tons of anthracite coal transported on the Schuylkill Canal to Philadelphia during the Industrial Revolution," he said.

At the time, coal was lifted up the renowned Mahanoy Plane using the world's largest horsepower engines and loaded onto rail cars in the Saint Clair rail yard, then the largest in the U.S. and the world, Caulfield said.

"This transportation corridor was part of the Industrial Revolution through World War I, which made us the world power that we are today," he said. "It gives us great pride that it will be used for such a great purpose."

Tim Fenchel, Greenways deputy director, said when complete the trail will run 120 miles from Frackville to Fort Mifflin at the confluence of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers.

When they heard of the relocation of the Mount Carbon bridge, he said, Greenways staff members were excited about being part of preserving history and heritage.

"We jumped at the opportunity," Fenchel said.

When complete in several years, the trail will run through Pottsville and Saint Clair to the Coal Creek Commerce Center.

Then, it will parallel Route 61 for a short distance and cross the refurbished Mount Carbon bridge before making the 4-mile climb to Frackville.

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007