Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Even as efforts to repair Weddle Bridge are under way, vandalism is forcing the partial permanent closure of the bridge along with Dahlenburg Bridge and the skate park.
Covered bridge expert Phil Pierce of New York recently finished his engineering assessment of Weddle Bridge, which needs structural and cosmetic work.
The assessment details Pierce’s view of what the bridge needs, Community Development Director Carol Lewis said. It describes what the city needs to do and in what order.
First priority is replacing one of the bridge’s upper chords and its sister chord, timbers that form part of the bridge’s superstructure, Lewis said. Pierce is waiting for approval to work in Oregon, and when that happens, the city will be able to use his drawings to go out for bids.
The state engineering board meets this month, Lewis said, and “we expect him to be approved.”
Afterward she can send out requests for proposals, she said.
The city already has the timbers for the project stored, Lewis said. Those were donated by Jim Cota and Mike Melcher, who have been contributed substantially to the city on this project.
The city has approximately $26,000 available for this part of the project, Lewis said. The President’s Club has another $7,000 available for additional projects, including wrought iron gates for the bridge.
Those gates mean the bridge will spend much of the year completely closed to the public.
The bridge may be open during the summer, on weekends and by appointment for special events, Lewis said. City officials hope the gates will prevent vandalism to the bridge.
The biggest problem is the school year, Lewis said. Although Weddle Bridge has been closed to the public because of its structural problems, Dahlenburg Bridge has had almost no vandalism over the summer this year.
The Dahlenburg Bridge, the smaller covered bridge at Sankey Park, “was almost knocked down by kids last school year,” Lewis said. “There’s nobody hanging out on the bridge during the summer.”
After last school year, “there was