MILANVILLE, PA & SKINNERS FALLS, NY — Orange plastic fencing and signs reading “Warning, keep out” now ward people away from the abutment on the New York side of the Skinners Falls-Milanville Bridge. 

An inspection conducted in early October showed the bridge had deteriorated and was at risk of falling into the river, with the abutment as a particular point of concern. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is working to remove the bridge before that happens, to make sure both the bridge and the people traveling beneath it stay safe. 

Local advocates who have followed the Skinners Falls saga still press for the historic bridge to be restored, rather than for it to be removed or replaced with new construction. 

This could still happen even if PennDOT dismantles the bridge now. In fact, the bridge might have to be removed in order for restoration to take place. 

“In order to restore the bridge, it has to be taken apart,” Barbara Arrindell, executive director of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS), told the River Reporter. She points to multiple letters from experts on historic bridges who have advocated for disassembly as part of the bridge’s restoration. 

One such letter, shared with the River Reporter by DCS, comes from Nels Raynor, president of Bach Ornamental and Structural Steel. In it, Raynor advocates for the bridge’s preservation, saying that it is a historic bridge with features worth preserving and that restoration would be “feasible and cost effective.”

“If fully restored, perhaps by disassembling the bridge and restoring each part individually in a shop setting, the bridge could serve for many decades more with minimal future maintenance costs,” said Raynor. He added that his company has extensive experience performing such work. 

During a November 14 public hearing, PennDOT representatives emphasized that every part of the bridge will be saved and stored to allow for future restoration, down to the stones of the abutments. 

According to a cultural resources submission from PennDOT, the plan is to store the bridge componants in trailers at a PennDOT District 4 stockpile in Waymart, to protect them from further damage. PennDOT is working with the other involved agencies, including state historic preservation offices in New York and Pennsylvania, to draft an agreement that “allows for the preservation of the bridge components, while also maintaining public safety in the area,” while also ensuring that rehabilitation is still an option for the bridge. 

Plans for the removal taking shape

Rick Lander, owner of Landers River Trips, with a campground in the shadow of the Skinners Falls Bridge on the New York side, said he’s met with the project team to discuss plans for the bridge’s removal. The current tentative plan is for a large crane to be brought in, which will bring the spans of the bridge to shore where they can be taken apart. 

“Apparently it’s in dire need of coming down ASAP,” said Lander. “The walls are actually crumbling on the bridge,” specifically on the New York side with the abutments, he said.  

According to the Skinners Falls Bridge team, cultural resources professionals were working the week of Monday, November 18 with drones to document the bridge for further use. As for the plans for the teardown, “The engineers are still coordinating with the various resource agencies to develop a plan that works for the equipment, provides a safe work zone, and minimizes impacts,” the team told the River Reporter. 

Lindsey Kurnath, superintendent with the local unit of the National Park Service (NPS), told the River Reporter that NPS is working closely with PennDOT on the project, but that the NPS has not yet received the requests for the permits it will need to give out. 

Kurnath said from the communication she has received, the project is “very much in the planning stages.” 

“We’re doing everything we can to do our due diligence while helping PennDOT, because we do understand that there’s a safety issue based on what their inspections have found.”

Lander said he hopes the team can work through the bureaucracy of the permitting process in time to have it taken down by May 1, 2025. He’s concerned about the safety of his customers and of the general public, as well as of the economic impact that would occur if the project disrupts river use and area camping for the summer season. 

The emergency need to take the bridge down has put a pause on the broader planning process for the bridge. 

PennDOT has been studying the alternatives for the restoration or replacement of the Skinners Falls Bridge since 2019, when the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic after failing safety inspections. That study has been conducted through a process prescribed by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

The most recent step of the NEPA process was a Planning & Environmental Linkages (PEL) study which released earlier this year. 

That study rejected the complete removal of a bridge at Skinners Falls, as well as options that would construct a new bridge at a different angle or approach from the existing one. It left on the table options for restoring the bridge, for creating a new bridge in the same location and for a hybrid project that would include both old parts and new construction, offering different pros and cons for each. 

The next steps of that NEPA process have stalled for lack of funding, according to Lisa Brozey, vice president with AECOM, the consulting firm working with PennDOT on the Skinners Falls Bridge. Separately, Brozey said the NEPA process has been put on hold while the emergency action to remove the bridge takes place.