Apr 20, 2024 2 min read

It’s not uncommon in my rural area that when a bridge on a low-volume road wears out or is damaged, it is closed rather than repaired or replaced.

That happened on my road about 15 years before we moved here, when arsonists destroyed the covered bridge crossing Ten Mile Creek. Since then, the only access to my home and my neighbor’s is across a 1930s-era, culvert-style bridge designed to go underwater during high-water events.

To lessen the frequency of these events, an additional culvert was added about five years after the fire. Since then, and especially now with climate change, the flooding continues and the patch washes out.

Our request for a real bridge has always been met by the same response – the borough cannot justify the cost for just three households. So, for the past 30 years, we’ve learned to pay attention to weather reports, and always hope that when flooding does occur, we find ourselves on the homeward side of our fair-weather bridge. That happened with this last set of rains.

On April 2, the bridge went under, and by the next day it had sustained substantial damage. When I returned home on April 12, I found the bridge under water again. I would wait until 3 a.m. before the waters receded enough for me to be able to cross by foot and make my way home. Driving across would have to wait until the borough had a chance to remove a heavy chunk of concrete that the flood waters pushed to the middle of the span.

Borough council is seeking a funding source to replace the bridge. I wish them much success.

Kathleen Martincic

Fredericktown