Cumberland County’s Hertzler Bridge opened Tuesday to traffic after being closed for repairs due to damage from a car crash in 2018.
The historic steel truss bridge on Creek Road spans 216 feet and crosses the Conodoguinet Creek in West Pennsboro and Lower Frankford Townships. The bridge sees an average daily traffic rate of 460 vehicles and is weight posted to 8 tons, according to a release from the county.
“We are happy to rehabilitate this historic bridge and make it safer for residents by replacing deteriorated steel components, installing new guide rails and painting the entire structure to protect it from the elements,” Cumberland County Planning Director Kirk Stoner said. “The work on the bridge began in March and we were able to complete all the repairs in nine months.”
Hertzler Bridge was built in 1896 by the Pittsburgh Bridge Company. The original steel beams still bear the name of Carnegie, who owned Carnegie Steel Company of Pittsburgh.
The rehabilitation project included repair, replacement and refurbishment of the damaged trusses, stone masonry abutment and wingwalls, main truss bearings, retrofitting of the deteriorated steel connections, steel stringer and floor beams.
The total allocation for the project is more than $1.5 million. Kinsley Construction, of York, was the construction contractor, and Herbert, Rowland and Grubic, is the county’s bridge engineer and designer of the project.
The rehabilitation project is the final project in Cumberland County’s Bridge Capital Improvement Plan that delivered more than $40 million worth of replacement or repairs on the county’s stock of 28 bridges in just over six years. The primary funding source is the $5 per vehicle registration fee that the county approved in 2015.
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