Volunteers continue to build a new deck on the old Iron Bridge is Rosston. The bridge had been closed after the decking became to rotted for safe travel.
Work has reached its half-way point of restoring the old Iron Bridge deck at Rosston.
The bridge is not only passage for the Armstrong Rails-to-Trails over Crooked Creek as it empties into the Allegheny River, but an emergency route for residences and camps on the south side of the creek.
The bridge was originally built in 1902 according to a plaque on its structure. It served the passenger and freight rail line that eventually extended from Pittsburgh to Buffalo, New York. The rail line ended passenger operations in 1941. The bridge was purchased by the Allegheny Valley Land Trust in 1992 for conversion to the Armstrong Trail.
In October 2017, Senate Engineering inspected the timber decking and recommended the bridge be closed to all users due to widespread rotting.
Chris Zeigler, Executive Director of the Allegheny Valley Land Trust, met in January 2019 with about 50 local residents as well as State Representatives Donna Oberlander (R-63) and Jeff Pyle (R-60) in an effort to raise $30,000 to restore the decking.
Zeigler said work started about two weeks ago to rehab the deck, comprising of volunteers.
“We have about 42 feet already decked,” Zeigler said yesterday. “The hardest part is pulling off the old boards because it’s like saw dust. It seems like it’s a really easy thing to do and it’s not.”
The project included decking only half the width of the bridge on the east side. Originally, Zeigler was going to attempt to do the west side of the bridge also, but it required railroad ties that were not available. She said they are re-using the railroad ties that were installed approximately 20 years ago and are still in good shape for the east side of the bridge deck.
“If somebody gives us railroad ties and money, we could do the other side. But, for trail and emergency access to the other side, this is really all that’s needed at this time,” she said.
Zeigler said the iron structure of the bridge is also in good shape.
“There’s some rust on the surface which is what you would expect for it a process that was built in 1902. I think it’s in pretty good condition. And the abutments are in good condition as well. And I think the railing that we’re going to put up will give people a better view of the iron and see what it took to make a bridge of this size for the railroad.”
Over the years, daring vandals crawled out onto the structure and painted graffiti. Zeigler said they are not going to address the issue for now.
“Right now, the priority is to redo the decking for trail users and for residents to feel safe that in an emergency, they can be reached.”
Although she is expecting the total project cost to be about $30,000, she said it depends on the final order for wood.
“We’ve probably spent $24,000 right now, but we also will have a final order for wood. We did our bulk order - this is what we think we’re going to use - but we’re going to be short. We’ll have to do a final wood order. We should have all the supplies for the railing. I have all the nails and things like that. It still needs to be determined because we’re doing some gates so motorized vehicles can’t cross the trail. It’s not a motorized trail. For emergency use, motorized vehicles will be allowed. So, there will be some incidentals to finish up. We plan on coming in very close or just under budget.”
Zeigler would not estimate when the work would be completed.
“It depends on how many volunteers. We have to make sure we have enough or else, we’re not safe. We have five of us here today, that’s probably the least amount of people we can work with.”
Zeigler said if anyone can volunteer for a day and has a little construction experience, they can contact her at 724-822-7176.
The Iron Bridge in Rosston spans Crooked Creek where to flows into the Allegheny River in Manor Township. The decking was very deteriorated and the bridge was closed until new decking could be installed. The Allegheny Valley Land Trust is recruiting volunteers to assist. For more information, call 724-822-7176.