Meadowcroft covered bridge wins preservation award
Burgettstown Elementary School students walk across Pine Bank Covered Bridge after a ribbon-cutting ceremony and dedication at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village near Avella in May 2017.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
The 35-foot-long Pine Bank Covered Bridge at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village in Avella
A bridge relocated from southwestern Greene County to the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village near Avella recently was honored for a rehabilitation project that saved the structure.
The Pine Bank Covered Bridge, constructed in 1871, is now the recipient of the Ralph Modjeski Award for Excellence in Transportation Design, Preservation, and Archeology from the 2018 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards. The awards recognize contributions in the field of historic preservation.
The structure once spanned Tom’s Run in the village of Pine Bank and was set to be torn down in 1961. But Meadowcroft founder Albert Miller had the retired bridge moved 70 miles to its new home instead. Work for a rehabilitation project to restore the covered bridge took place in 2016, and it was unveiled to the public in 2017.
The 35-foot-long covered bridge had structural deficiencies and decay, so the work corrected those issues along with drainage problems. Work was also done to the appearance to make it more in line with its original construction.
Meadowcroft officials will receive the award Sept. 27 at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.