Historic bridge in Meyersdale closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic indefinitely

MEYERSDALE ― The North Street bridge in Meyersdale has been closed to both vehicle and pedestrian traffic indefinitely.

“Our primary concern is for the physical safety of the public," said Somerset County Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes in an email. "After the bridge’s most recent safety inspection, the recommendation of our structural engineer was immediate closure.”

The bridge was closed to vehicle traffic in May 2017 after a tractor-trailer crossing the span struck it on April 26 that year and caused damage to the structure. The incident caused the county commissioners to close the bridge, which spans Flaugherty Creek, to traffic for safety reasons.

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During the last county inspection of the bridge, engineer Andy Fedorko, The EADS Group Somerset structures and highway department manager and county engineer, said the bridge condition had deteriorated even more.

"The North Street bridge is in poor condition with advanced deterioration of the steel trusses," he said in an email. "We noted further degradation of the wood deck planks and the wood stringers that run longitudinally under the deck planks."

Fedorko said a new Load Rating Analysis was completed, utilizing the updated condition of the wood components, "which indicated the bridge was no longer safe for pedestrian loading."

He said the county was notified and the bridge was closed to pedestrians.

"Replacement of the deteriorated wood components is necessary for the bridge to be reopened to pedestrians," Fedorko said in the email. "The county chose to not move ahead with those repairs at this time. Therefore, it is closed indefinitely."

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Hoped to be fixed

In 2017, then-county Commissioner Gerald Walker addressed Meyersdale Council during a meeting, saying the North Street bridge was historical, and replacing it was out of the question, according to a story published in the Daily American. The bridge was built in 1890, according to HistoricBridges.org. Walker said then that a full replacement was estimated to cost $2.1 million.

Madolin Edwards has been a journalist at the Daily American for 37 years, covering school boards, borough councils, sports and new stories. She was the Home and Family editor for 20 years, and was the primary editor and reporter for a variety of special projects, features and tabs. Contact the Daily American reporters at news@dailyamerican.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Historic bridge in Meyersdale closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic indefinitely