Clermont County’s historic Stonelick Covered Bridge collapsed Tuesday afternoon as construction crews worked on its restoration. No one was injured. The cause is under investigation.
The 136-year-old structure on Stonelick-Williams Corner Road is the only covered bridge in Clermont County, and one of about 140 covered bridges in Ohio. It has been closed to traffic since May 2010, when a heavy truck caused damage to the floor beams. A plan to restore the bridge, retaining its historic characteristics, was put in place in March 2012. Work began in October.
Clermont County Engineer Pat Manger said the entire bridge collapsed; half of it is in the creek, and half lies on temporary shoring that was erected under the bridge. Four workers were on the bridge when it collapsed, but they were able to jump to safety.
Officials with the Columbus-based contractor will be in Clermont County Wednesday morning to discuss the next steps, Manger said.
I visited the bridge recently. It has been under reconstruction since July, by Ohio construction company, Righter Construction. It is quite close to being open to traffic again and looks beautiful.
According to the construction crew present, 58% of the original bridge material was able to be used for the reconstruction. The decking is 100% new materials.
I will update the photos soon.
A picture gallery of the damage:
http://www.cincinnati.com/picture-gallery/news/local/clermon...
Just saw coverage on local news. Despite another news site describing it as a "portion" of the bridge, it looks like a total loss.
LInk with photos and info on collaspe
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/clermont-county/stonelic...
As of the 5:00 p.m. news on 2-11-14 this bridge has reportedly suffered a catastrophic collapse into the creek. I'm thrilled we can pump billions into Iraq over the years but we had to let the last covered bridge in Clermont County sit for months after damage until it finally dropped. According to the news report a victory had just been won to restore it vs. replacing it. There were reportedly 4 workers on the bridge that are apparently OK. Since it took this long to win a restoration of the bridge, I have to wonder if there's any hope of a rebuild. Have not seen any pictures yet.
Local advocates for a reasoned preservation minded approach to the rehabilitation of this bridge have their voices heard - http://t.co/lSr3epnJ
Thank you for the update Will! I didn't want to ignore the no trespassing signs to go underneath the bridge, but knew if there was damage it had to be in the floor system. I did notice the remnants of some yellow police tape and knew that something had indeed happened.
It is time for Clermont County to consider bypassing this bridge, or in worse case moving it. I love to see historic bridges maintained in their original location, but this span has had too many issues with vehicle damage and i fear it will be destroyed.
There was damage - See this slideshow, the "displaced boards" are dislodged lower lateral braces. The shear failures in the floor beams are evident in these photos...
The forces imparted by this overload were in all probability dynamic - This truck in all likelihood left the road at the approaches apron, and literally impacted the floor.
Only the dislodged and hanging laterals brought on an emergency inspection and perhaps averted the probability that the next outlaw ignoring all reason, common sense and the weight limit signs from a catastrophic failure and a dip in the drink.
The driver was charged with a misdemeanor (hope they don't give him the chair) this past weekend!
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?&Avis=AB&Da...
As a recent bridge facebook and official clermont co site reported Bridge is now OPEN for buisness. I have a realative living near here and also reported it open to me as it makes it easier to get to their house. Signs are posted you must STOP before crossing as it is a blind spot