Sheepford Bridge (1887)

A pair of great news in the world of historic bridges. The Sheepford Road Bridge and Bogert's Covered Bridges have received funding for bridge restoration. A look at the former in this article with a big congrats! Your bridge matters! <3 :-) Link: https://bridgehunterschronicles.wordpress.com/2022/04/27/she...

Encouraging news on the Sheepford Road Bridge!

https://cumberlink.com/news/local/funding-sought-for-project...

York & Cumberland Counties have approved a motion to allow Friends of Sheepford Road Bridge until October 2022 to find a preservation option for the bridge. We are pursuing options which will allow the bridge to remain in place. This will require a new owner and major fund raising efforts. Donations can be made through the West Shore Historical Society, PO BOX 717, Camp Hill, PA 17001.

We are confident we will be successful.

The bridge will be restored at its birthplace. Letters of support from Lower Allen and Fairview Townships are moving up to county commissioners. West Shore Historical Society and Preservation PA support this bridge preservation. 2017 Cumberland County Comprehensive Plan surveyed residents stated "preserve historic sites and structures is extremely important" by 82%. Budget hearings seek funding sources. Save Our Bridge group has support coverage by TV on ABC27News, Fox43, and CBS21. Radio coverage is scheduled in April. First fundraising effort in New Cumberland on March 7. Over 1200 petitions signed. Bridge puzzles will be sold not the bridge! Lets allow this destination bridge to sing again with the sound of cars riding over it. This heritage bridge will be enjoyed by future generations.

I'm a member of the "Save Our Bridge" group. We will take any help we can get in our goal to restore the bridge in its birthplace, where it has connected our communities for over 140 years. We are hopeful that the counties will work with us toward that goal. Our petition has just reached the 1000 signature mark and we continue to attend meetings, hold events and raise awareness of the plight of the bridge. Now that it is closed, we have gathered even more support.

The County offered it to us. They saved another similar. I encouraged them to work with the county and I was told to back off by the locals. Not my fault that it needs saved and it feels a bit doomed. If we can help we will.

There is a lot of back story here the owner has been wanting rid of this bridge however there is strong local opposition to demolition. This is just the latest development.

I have found in my many years of dealing with trusses that the lion's share of the time the issue is below the deck. Of course the powers that be would have you believe it to be nearing catastrophic failure of the entire structure, when the trusses themselves are normally not that bad. I would easily assume that those riddled floor beams and stringers are replacements to the originals.

Tony,

Yes and no. I think they added new stringers and left the rotten ones in place. The deck design has laterals that effectively distribute the load across the stringers and help compensate for the floor beam rot.

So, while not good, it looks scarier than it is. This one is an easy save once the politics are navigated.

Regards,

Art S.

Letting the floor beams and stringers get in that condition is criminal neglect.

Built 1887, Pratt through truss; cast and wrought iron Phoenix Column Bridge.

"During the scheduled safety inspection, in accordance with the National Bridge Inspection Standards program, engineers found that several components of the bridge are in poor condition and that there is evidence of the bridge being used by overweight vehicles."

https://cumberlink.com/news/local/sheepford-road-bridge-in-l...