SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

West Earl covered bridge's months-long closure frustrates drivers [Lancaster Watchdog]

CHRIS REBER | Staff Writer
Apr 14, 2024
Apr 14, 2024

Truck stuck in Bitzer's Mill covered bridge — A tractor-trailer is seen stuck on Bitzer’s Mill Covered Bridge in West Earl Township on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, in this photo provided by Farmersville Fire Company.
Submitted

Nearly five months after a tractor-trailer accident closed Bitzer’s Mill Covered Bridge in West Earl Township, frustrated motorists like April Reiff want to know when it will reopen.

“Part of the problem is that nobody sees any progress being made,” said Reiff, who uses the state-owned bridge at the intersection of Cider Mill, Cats Back and Covered Bridge roads to avoid heavy traffic on a section of Route 322 when traveling to Ephrata from her home in New Holland.

The 178-year-old bridge, located 1.5 miles south of the Ephrata exit of Route 222, may not fully reopen until the end of the year after a routine inspection in March revealed issues unrelated to the Nov. 20, 2023, accident police said was caused by a tractor-trailer becoming stuck while attempting to cross the bridge. In the meantime, the state Department of Transportation estimates it could partially reopen by July.

While the bridge’s closure is an inconvenience for Reiff, first responders and Plain sect residents cite safety concerns as issues they face with the bridge being out of commission.

Farmersville Fire Company says the bridge’s closure has created a three-to-four-minute delay in response time, forcing it to rely on neighboring first responders for some emergency calls. The fire station at 74 E. Farmersville Road, which is 1.3 miles southwest of the covered bridge, has permission from the state Department of Transportation to run some of its smaller trucks over the bridge.

Similarly, ambulances traveling between Fairmount Homes and Wellspan Ephrata Community Hospital for medical emergencies also must travel an additional three to four minutes, according to Mitch Hannah, the retirement community’s marketing director. The 167-unit retirement community with 188 nursing and personal-care beds is located at 333 Wheat Ridge Drive, which is a little less than a mile south from the bridge.

And Plain sect residents recently voiced concerns about the closed bridge’s detour, telling a PennDOT bridge engineer that crossing the bridge in its current state is still less risky than operating buggies on nearby Route 322. The 6.4-mile detour uses Goods Road, Farmersville Road, Route 322, and Pleasant Valley Road.

Stacy Prater, of Albany, Georgia, was driving the tractor-trailer with a height of 13 feet, 4 inches that got stuck on the bridge with a height restriction of 10 feet, 6 inches in November. The truck damaged wooden braces and overhead metal connecting rods before Prater stopped and tried to reverse, according to Mervin Zimmerman, Farmersville Fire Company assistant fire chief. Ultimately the truck’s trailer got stuck on one of the metal rods, which the fire company had to cut so the truck could back out.

Prater was found guilty of three summary offenses in February, according to court documents. He and the truck’s owner, Idaho-based Woodgrain Transportation LLC, could not be reached for comment.

Repair plans in the works

Despite the lack of activity, Derek Mitch, chief bridge engineer for PennDOT District 8, which includes Lancaster County, said the agency is working to fix and reopen the bridge.

However, because the bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, he said wood damaged in the truck incident must be replaced with the same type of wood used when the bridge was built in 1846. Mitch said it takes four to six months to deliver the wood from a mill on the West Coast, adding the repair work is scheduled to be completed in June or July.

The budget for the repair work hasn’t been determined, but PennDOT spokesperson Dave Thompson said the agency plans to seek reimbursement from Prater and Woodgrain Transportation.

When work to repair the damage from the truck collision is completed in June or July, the bridge could reopen to buggies so they don’t have to use the detour that includes Route 322.

“322 is a major road,” Mitch said. “They don’t want to be on there, and we would prefer to keep them off of it if we can.”

The bridge will remain closed to cars and trucks until issues discovered during the March inspection are addressed. The biannual inspection revealed one of the bridge’s stone and mortar abutments was falling apart and will require concrete reinforcement.

“When it was built, it was designed for buggy traffic, not heavy vehicles,” Mitch said. “Time and heavy vehicles, that’s all.”

Repairs to the abutment are in the planning stages, and PennDOT said it's aiming for late 2024 to complete that work. The agency said it has not finalized a timeline or budget for the work.

Previous bridge strikes

According to PennDOT and LNP | LancasterOnline archives, the Bitzer’s Mill Covered Bridge was struck by vehicles in 2021 and 2015.

Veronica Martin, a historic architecture specialist for PennDOT, has worked on multiple projects to repair bridges damaged by trucks. She said sometimes they are caused by drivers following GPS who are afraid to deviate from their route. In other cases, the driver might think a bridge’s posted clearance is conservatively low, she said.

“We’ve seen it happen across the state, GPS guiding trucks where they shouldn’t be when it comes to load posting, height restriction and width restrictions,” she said.

PennDOT has taken several measures to prevent strikes on the Bitzer’s Mill bridge in recent years, including posting warning signs at the intersections around the bridge, and a larger, brighter colored clearance sign on the bridge itself. It also modified the bridge to raise its maximum clearance by a foot.

One measure PennDOT is not considering is installing a “headache bar,” which are wooden beams suspended by chains at both entrances of a bridge. While they are used on the 20 covered bridges owned by Lancaster County, Mitch said PennDOT does not use the devices because of liability concerns of intentionally installing a device for vehicles to hit.

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