PennDOT to replace Memorial Bridge west of Waynesboro

Blueprints dated back to 1926 are being adapted for 21st-century needs

March 29, 2012|By JENNIFER FITCH | waynesboro@herald-mail.com

Submitted photo

WAYNESBORO, Pa. — What is old could become new again in Waynesboro as town leaders work to replace a bridge using its original design.

Blueprints dated back to 1926 for Memorial Bridge are being adapted for 21st-century needs, including increased width, 5-foot sidewalks and improved safety measures.

The bridge on Pa. 16 is west of town near the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the borough line.

On Thursday morning, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials met with state Rep. Todd Rock, R-Franklin, and representatives of Main Street Waynesboro Inc., Waynesboro Historical Society, the borough of Waynesboro and Washington Township.

“Everybody basically agreed it’s not going to look identical to what we have ... but it will have some of the same architectural themes.” Borough Manager Lloyd Hamberger said. “In the last couple years, we’ve come to acknowledge the need for things to be functional, but also attractive.”

The bridge was dedicated to World War I service members in the past. A plaque from that dedication later was moved to Memorial Park off East Fifth Street.

Patrick E. Fleagle, secretary of the historical society, plans to talk to area veterans to find out if they would like the bridge to be rededicated for World War I, all wars or another purpose.

“In deference to them and their sacrifice, I think it is important to give them the first choice,” Fleagle said.

PennDOT, which will pay for the bridge replacement, expects to seek bids for the project in 2014, Hamberger said.

“That (new) bridge is going to be here for 100 years,” he said.

The new bridge is expected to be 54 feet wide with 11-foot-wide lanes for traffic.

“PennDOT was very cooperative and open with us for designs that would closely resemble the old bridge,” Fleagle said.

The existing bridge’s decorative lights are missing, he said.

Floodwaters washed out the foundation of an older bridge in 1926, according to “Reflections of the History of Waynesboro” by Carl Besore and Robert Ringer.

W.W. Wolf Co. of Jersey Shore, Pa., won a contract to replace the bridge, which cost $10,000. The memorial features cost $1,200, while the bronze tablet inscribed with names cost $205, according to the book.

The bridge opened for traffic Dec. 18, 1926, at 6 a.m.

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