Stony Valley Rail-Trail - Rausch Gap Stone Arch

In June of 2017, the PA Game Commission demolished the stone arch and the eastern abutment of the 1850's RR bridge over Rausch Creek. Leaving only a portion of the western abutment, they poured concrete on top of the western abutment and poured a completely new eastern abutment. They re-spanned the opening with the same modern green steel bridge structure that had existed previously.

Unfortunately during their demolition, the PGC crew had allowed an excessive amount of large, hand-worked stones to fall into the creek. Previously, the area underneath the bridge had been the largest and best pool for flyfishing for small native brook trout and chubs within the entire length of Rausch Creek towards the confluence with Stony Creek. (Immediately upstream of the bridge are limestone diversion wells that treat acid mine drainage.) I just happened to be biking in that area that day and asked the crew if they had planned to remove the stones since it had been such a great flyfishing spot, and they indicated they were not interested in the least. The pool still holds native fish, but does not hold near the productive capacity as it did previously.

On a separate note, there are also the remains of two additional stone RR bridge foundations in Stony Valley; one a few hundred yards to the north of the Rausch Gap bridge on the Rail Trail, and another (the tallest and most spectacular), about 3.5 miles east across Gold Mine Run. In addition to the RR bridges, there are additional smaller 1850's wagon trail bridge abutments that exist within the greater Stony Valley.