Over the Octoraro Creek in Little Britain Township, something old is becoming something new.

This week, construction crews began putting the wooden trusses of the old Pine Grove Covered Bridge onto new steel supports.

The work is part of an ongoing $3.8 million rehabilitation of the circa-1884 covered bridge. It is expected to wrap up by Labor Day.

The state-owned bridge along Ashville Road straddles the border between Lancaster and Chester counties.

When it is fully restored, the covered bridge will retain its historic look, but benefit from a modern steel skeleton that will make it as strong as a modern replacement.


        Covered bridge rebuilding


Greg Penny, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said restoring the covered bridge instead of substituting it with a modern bridge was something "different."

"There has been a change of thinking and emphasis, and the emphasis is on preserving covered bridges when we can," Penny said.

Ten years ago, PennDOT likely would have replaced a bridge like Pine Grove with a concrete structure, perhaps moving the old bridge to a park, Penny said.

Now, PennDOT rehabilitates its covered bridges and leaves them in place whenever possible, Penny said.

J.D. Eckman Inc., an Atglen construction firm, began the restoration work on Pine Grove Covered Bridge last fall.

First, the 198-foot bridge was carefully taken apart and new concrete piers were built on each side of the creek. Exposed concrete abutments were made to look like old stone.

This week's replacement of the wooden trusses signals the near-completion of the project.

When the bridge reopens, it will look nearly identical to when Elias McCellen built it 124 years ago.

Lancaster County has 29 covered bridges, more than any other county in Pennsylvania and second nationally only to Parke County, Ind., which has 31.

Most of the bridges, built of wood in the 19th century, are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The oldest is Neff's Mill Covered Bridge, which crosses Pequea Creek between West Lampeter and Strasburg townships. It is also the narrowest, with a clear roadway of about 11 feet.

Dozens of bridges have been ruined by floods and fire over the years. Tropical Storm Agnes destroyed or badly damaged several bridges in 1972. An arsonist burned Risser Mill Bridge over Little Chickies Creek in 2002.
(Staff writer Jack Brubaker contributed to this report.)

Staff writer Chad Umble can be reached at cumble@LNPnews.com or 481-6031.