Hares Hill Road Bridge

I'm a recreational cyclist, so the addition of the bike strip when the bridge was rehabilitated is a nice addition indeed--especially with State Bicycle Route S crossing one mile south at Coldstream Rd. You can view the bike strip in Picture 22 of 23 above. In fact, the entire series of snapshots shows that this bridge was, and still is, built to last.

The historic Hares Hill Road Bridge over French Creek in East Pikeland Township, Chester County was reopened on Friday (Dec. 10, 2010) following the completion of an $866,689 rehabilitation project.

PennDOT’s contractor worked since June 2010 to preserve this historic structure and increase its useful life without adversely affecting its historical integrity. The improvement plan consisted of rehabilitating girders; replacing damaged structural steel members; replacing the bridge’s grid-deck and adding a four-foot wide center concrete strip for bicycle use; cleaning and repainting the bridge; resurfacing the roadway approaches; and restoring the stone wing walls.

The weight limit on the bridge, which is 103 feet long and 15 feet wide, has been raised to 15 tons on account of the structural improvements made over the past few months. The bridge was posted for seven tons prior to the start of the construction.

Originally built in 1869, the Hares Hill Road Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only known surviving example of Thomas William Moseley’s Wrought-Iron Lattice Girder Bridge and is the only wrought-iron highway bridge in public use in Chester County.

Road-Con, Inc. of West Chester, Chester County, was the general contractor on the $826,689 project that was financed with 100 percent state funds.