Unhinging history: 128-year-old Mount Carbon bridge dismantled for restoration
Aug. 30—MOUNT CARBON — Wielding torches and jackhammer-like power tools early Monday morning, workmen began dismantling an historic bridge that until last week spanned the Schuylkill River.
The intricate job of taking apart the 128-year-old bowstring iron truss bridge is being undertaken by expert craftsmen from Lockhart Ironworks of Logan, Ohio.
Doug Lockhart, a blacksmith who specializes in restoring historic bridges, was on hand to personally supervise the operation.
Once disassembled, the components of the 37,000-pound bridge will be loaded on a flatbed and transported to Lockhart Ironworks for restoration.
"As they take it apart, they're inspecting it to determine which parts need to be rehabilitated," said Julia Farrell Hurle, Schuylkill River Greenways trails director.
When refurbished, Hurle said, the components will be transported to Coal Creek Commerce Center near Saint Clair, where it will be reassembled over Mill Creek near Terry Rich Boulevard.
An architect's rendering shows the bridge being painted red as part of the restoration process. It is expected to be completed by late summer next year.
It will serve as a footbridge on the Saint Clair section of the Schuylkill River Trail, which has yet to be completed. The section is part of the Schuylkill River Greenways National Historic Area, a 120-mile trail from Philadelphia to Frackville.
PennDOT is funding the $2.9 million restoration of the bridge, one of only two bowstring iron truss spans remaining in Pennsylvania. The other bridge, also being restored by Lockhart Ironworks, is in western Pennsylvania.
Officials stressed the historical integrity of the bridge will be of foremost importance during its restoration.
Unhinging history
Around 8:30 a.m., PennDOT engineers inspected the bridge with Doug Lockhart and representatives of Fabcor Inc., the Lackawanna County general contractor on the project.
When constructed, most of the components of the iron bridge are connected by hot rivets. Lockhart has a process that will remove rivets by cutting off the head and punching out the stem with a power tool.
The bridge's arches are connected to its iron base, or chords, with large bolts.
Using a torch to heat the metal white hot, a Lockhart crew worked for about 45 minutes to loosen the first bolt.
It took two men using a large pipe wrench attached to an extended handle to dislodge a nut that had been screwed onto the bolt in 1894, when Grover Cleveland was president of the United States.
There were only 44 stars on the American flag when the first horse and buggy crossed the Mount Carbon bridge, then the major connection between Schuylkill Haven and Mount Carbon.
The bridge would eventually carry motor vehicles before being relegated to serving as a footbridge. It was last used 96 years ago when a concrete bridge was built a short distance downstream in 1926.
Lane's Crane Service, a Lackawanna County firm, supplied two large cranes that lifted the 18.5-ton structure from its berth last Thursday and placed it on wooden pylons nearby. A Fabcor crew spent several weeks shoring up the aging structure for the move.
Doug Lockhart was unavailable for comment, but his website said the company makes forged cookware and decorative wrought iron.
Lockhart has reconstructed the historic Zoarville Station Bridge in Dover, Ohio, the only Fink through-truss bridge known to exist in the U.S. Also, the 18-foot-high gateway to Public Square in Nelsonville, Ohio.
No information was available on the website concerning the Mount Carbon bridge or the other bowstring iron truss bridge in western Pennsylvania.
Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007
