Pennsylvania Historic Preservation

Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Category: PennDOT (Page 5 of 7)

Wiley’s Bridge is located along Bowers Road in Berks County. Public interest has spurred talks of preservation for this rare Whipple Through Truss bridge. Courtesy of historicbridges.org. Used by permission of Nathan Holth.

Bridge to the Past: PennDOT’s Historic Metal Truss Bridge Management Plan

March 15, 2017 / / 7 Comments

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

Ca. 2013 picture of the National Register-listed Potter/Allison House, a contributing building in the Penns/Brush Valley Rural Historic District. Photograph by Charles Richmond, McCormick Taylor, Inc.

A Journey to Potters Mills: Story Maps as Mitigation

March 1, 2017 / / 4 Comments

Potters Mills? Story Maps? What are these things?  This week’s post from guest contributor Charles Richmond will answer these burning questions and talk about this creative way to use 21st century technology to connect people to place and preservation.

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The Upper Slate Run Bridge carries PA 414 over Pine Creek in Lycoming County is in the only example of a Quadruple intersection Warren thru truss in the state. Courtesy of historicbridges.org. 2016. Used by permission of Nathaniel Holth.

Fall in Love with a Metal Truss Bridge

November 16, 2016 / / 2 Comments

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

Gallery page of the Digging I95 website, http://diggingi95.com/tag/gallery/

Artifacts from PennDOT Dig Shine at Wheaton

October 19, 2016 / / 0 Comments

There’s a scene in the 1960 classic, The Time Machine, where Rod Taylor escapes the imminent nuclear war by throwing his machine fast into the future.  Quickly, the ground rises all around him and for what appears to be an eternity, he is sitting there isolated from the outside world.  At that moment, as we watch him shivering, we wonder with him what is going on above ground.  An archaeologist would empathize with Rod Taylor at that moment, not because he has put himself into a tight spot, but because Taylor’s experience is the experience of all artifacts in the ground.  They are part of the world, then they are no longer part of the world, having disappeared beneath the earth.

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Shouting-Out about the Statewide Conference!

April 27, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Time for April’s SHPO Shout-Out! I’m going to mix it up a bit this month and Shout Out about something that’s happening soon rather than something that’s already happened or is in the process of happening. It’s not that I don’t have a whole bunch of great things waiting in the wings – it’s just that the 2016 Pennsylvania Statewide Conference on Heritage is a REALLY big deal and I’d be derelict in my duties as Education and Outreach Coordinator if I didn’t make sure that all of our dedicated readers know all about it. Continue reading

The image shows a white number 5 on a blue background.
5 Things

5 Things about the New and Improved Archaeological Guidelines

April 6, 2016 / / 0 Comments

What better way to celebrate archaeology during Preservation50 than to share the PA State Historic Preservation Office’s recently revised and newly issued of the Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations in Pennsylvania?  Another bit of big news is that the revised Guidelines are being released in tandem with the much-anticipated Pre-Contact Probability Model layer on CRGIS.

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Kiefel Bridge, taken by Nathaniel Holth. Courtesy of historicbridges.com. 2013. Used by permission of Nathaniel Holth.

Intern Introspect: 10 Historic Bridges in Pennsylvania to Paddle Under Before the Temperature Plummets

August 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

by Elizabeth Shultz

Nestled between the peak heat of July and the crispness of October’s flaming foliage is that special span of outdoor living in Pennsylvania that is the perfect time to hoist your kayaks and canoes onto your shoulders, strap your sturdiest water shoes to your feet, and set out to feast your eyes on some of the architectural and engineering gems that crisscross Pennsylvania’s diverse bodies of water. In the true Commonwealth spirit of discovery, before our rivers turn to frozen slush and our streams start to crunch, let your paddles guide you under some of Pennsylvania’s treasured pieces of transportation history – starting with those listed below! Continue reading

Conference goers gathered on the Plaza for this great photo. Image courtesy of Preservation Pennsylvania.

In Case You Missed It… the 2015 Statewide Conference on Heritage

July 22, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Conference goers gathered on the Plaza for this great photo. Image courtesy of Preservation Pennsylvania.

Conference goers gathered on the Plaza for this great photo. Image courtesy of Preservation Pennsylvania.

We all know that summer is a great time to kick back and relax, and it’s even better when you can do so while hanging out at the State Museum of Pennsylvania with your friends and learning some interesting stuff at the 2015 Statewide Conference on Heritage.  There was so much going on, and so much to see and do, that I thought perhaps our readers would like a recap of the conference highlights.  Continue reading

Meet the 2015 Summer Interns

June 17, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Some of the 2015 PA SHPO interns check out the Mid-Century design elements in the State Museum.

Some of the 2015 PA SHPO interns check out the Mid-Century design elements in the State Museum.

The PA SHPO provides opportunities for interested college students to work as interns in our office throughout the year, but summer always brings a crop of fresh faces.  Our summer interns are participants in either the PHMC Keystone Internship Program or the PENNDOT sponsored summer internship program in cultural resource management. Continue reading

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