Repairs begin on covered bridge
Contractors were scheduled to begin work Tuesday on the Pleasantville Covered Bridge to repair a safety bar that was dislodged by a high-profile vehicle, causing the historic span in Oley Township to close last week.
The bridge closed just after 7 a.m. Jan. 19 after an unidentified resident notified police that one of the two height-restriction bars was struck and blocking the south side of the county-owned bridge on Covered Bridge Road.
Alan D. Piper, Berks County transportation planner, said the county last week declared the incident an “emergency repair project.”
“This happens fairly frequently,” Piper said. “We call this a headache bar. It should be repaired by the end of the week.”
The county on Monday hired contractor Mar-Allen Concrete Products Inc. of Ephrata to repair the safety bar and other damages. The estimated repair cost is $20,000.
Covered Bridge Road connects motorists from Route 662 to Route 73. The bridge is 126 feet long, crossing the Manatawny Creek.
Piper said motorists are not reading the warning signs that the height limit for vehicles crossing the bridge is 10 feet 5 inches.
Height-restriction bars were installed on both sides of the bridge about 15 years ago to prevent motorists from crashing into the 168-year-old bridge, which is in the National Register of Historic Places.
Central Berks Regional Police Chief Raymond Serafin said there are no suspects in the latest accident because the driver fled the scene and left no vehicle parts behind.
The chief said the barriers prevent the bridge from being damaged.
“There were no signs of any vehicle there,” Serafin said. “It was most likely a large truck that turned around without leaving any traces.”
Serafin said the driver ignored height-limit signs approaching the bridge. He said many motorists are using GPS systems that do not not indicate the height restrictions.
The bridge, constructed in 1852, closed in 1993 after heavy storm damage. It reopened in 2004 following a $2.2 million upgrade.
Several residents said Monday morning said that the motorists have been driving into the safety barriers on a regular basis. They said the drivers also end up doing U-turns once they get to the bridge and realize the height restrictions.
“The tractor-trailers come through and they have to turn around,” said Courtney Diener-Stokes, 41, a Covered Bridge Road resident and Reading Eagle correspondent. “The Pleasantville Bridge is a treasure that makes this little nook so special.”
Another county-owned historic covered bridge, the Dreibelbis Station Bridge off Route 143 in Greenwich Township, was relocated in September to
Lancaster County Timber Frames in Lower Windsor Township, York County, for restoration. Piper said the plan is to bring the Dreibelbis bridge back to Berks this spring.