Metal truss bridges are an important part of Pennsylvania’s engineering and technological history and stand as a legacy to the state’s iron and steel industry. Continue reading
Category: Bridges (Page 4 of 5)
Add this to your summer reading list! #preservationhappenshere – PA’s Statewide Preservation Plan – is ready for you
Picture yourself – lounging poolside, lakeside, or on the beach – with your tablet or smart phone (or even good old-fashioned paper) enjoying the hottest summer publication that hasn’t yet made the New York Times bestseller list: #preservationhappenshere, Pennsylvania’s next statewide historic preservation plan. Continue reading
Sign Up for the new Historic Metal Truss Bridge Newsletter!
Metal truss bridges are an important part of Pennsylvania’s engineering and technological history and are a standing legacy to the state’s iron and steel industry. Unfortunately, modern traffic needs in combination with insufficient maintenance funding, especially for locally owned bridges, has made rehabilitation and ongoing maintenance of these bridges difficult and many of them have been demolished and replaced with modern structures.
In an effort to save the remaining population, PennDOT, with help from the State Historic Preservation Office, has developed a marketing program and seeks groups or individuals interested in acquiring historic metal truss bridges that no longer can meet vehicular needs for adaptive reuse. An important feature of metal truss bridges is their ability to be dismantled and moved, giving them new life as a pedestrian or light vehicular bridge for trails, bike paths, parks, golf courses, and college campuses.
Not only do historic bridges help link a place with its local heritage, they also promote the value of recycling and provide eye-catching designs. Many of these bridges become destination spots attracting heritage tourism and adding economic development to the area.
For more information sign up for the Historic Metal Truss Bridge Newsletter. The newsletter, which will be sent out semi-annually, will highlight available bridges, how to acquire a bridge, adaptive reuse success stories and available funding.
Pine Bank Covered Bridge at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village
Recently, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission collaborated with the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village to preserve one of the oldest covered bridges in Washington County. Continue reading
The Future of Preservation is …..Summer Interns at the PA SHPO
As the summer of 2017 begins a new group of students and perhaps future preservationists have arrived at the PA State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) to participate in the PHMC Keystone Summer Internship Program or the collaborative PennDOT/PA SHPO cultural resource management internship program. Continue reading
Guidance for the Treatment of Historic Bridges
Wherever you travel in Pennsylvania, you are likely to cross a historic bridge. These bridges are an important part of the cultural landscape and a link to Pennsylvania’s transportation and engineering history. Eventually these bridges need some level of work to continue providing a safe passage, but what is the best way to execute this work without diminishing the bridges’ historic character? By consulting and applying the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (the Standards) for guidance.
Bridge to the Past: PennDOT’s Historic Metal Truss Bridge Management Plan
In June 2016, I was hired as the Transportation Special Initiatives Coordinator in the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). This new position was created through a special funding agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and was developed to assist them in marketing the state’s historic metal truss bridges. My position has evolved over the last 9 months and I see my purpose as helping both PennDOT and the SHPO preserve the remaining population of historic metal truss bridges by either marketing them for an adaptive reuse at a new location or helping to develop and implement a management plan to rehabilitate these bridges as part of the transportation system. Continue reading
Fall in Love with a Metal Truss Bridge
Have you ever driven along the back roads of Pennsylvania and come across one of the state’s beautiful metal truss bridges? Or seen a massive truss bridge spanning a major river crossing? These awe-inspiring bridges are a part of Pennsylvania’s landscape and an important part of the state’s engineering and technological history. Continue reading
I’ve got some great SHPO Shout-Outs to share with you this month, and I’m anxious to get started! I would be remiss, though, in my duties as Education and Outreach Coordinator if I didn’t share some exciting updates about our Community Connections public outreach effort for the next statewide historic preservation plan. ICYMI, you can check out this blog from Monday to learn what we and our Partners have been up to lately and find out about your chance to hang out with Preservation PA’s Mindy Crawford, PA SHPO staff, and some of our local partners at an Open House coming soon to a community near you.
It’s hard to believe that a month has gone by since our first ever SHPO Shout-Out! I’ll give my own Shout-Out to everyone who liked, posted, shared, tweeted, and emailed our November post to spread the word not only about the great projects I featured but also to let people know that we’d like to crowd-source candidates for future posts. The number of emails I got from readers with ideas for candidates were low – like zero! – but I understand that you’re all just getting used to the idea, right?! I can’t possibly know about all the good preservation victories across the 46,055 sq. mi. that make up Pennsylvania and I need your help!
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