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Geigel Hill Bridge
The once ubiquitous Pony Truss bridges of Pennsylvania have become an endangered species and, unfortunately, none are more endangered than the Geigel Hill Road Bridge in Tinicum Township, Bucks County. Reflecting the craftsmanship and ingenuity of the past, the Geigel Bridge has served the nationally listed Ridge Valley Historic District since 1887. The bridge was damaged by a single truck accident in October of 2002 and has remained closed since. During the intervening time, PennDOT and Tinicum Township have been negotiating the design and ownership of a context sensitive replacement structure utilizing the historically significant portions of the old bridge.
The township and involved residents have been working diligently and constructively with PennDOT. As of the end of January 2008, it appeared that only three, easily resolved, design issues remained. Everyone was expecting a near immediate resolution to those issues by the engineers involved and believed that the process of reopening the bridge could begin immediately. Unfortunately, and inexplicably, PennDOT has unilaterally declared that the bridge must be demolished without delay and has secured or is in the process of securing the necessary permit for its emergency removal.
PennDOT is claiming that the bridge must be removed immediately for safety reasons, but there has been no fundamental structural change to the bridge since it was closed as a result of the accident. There has been no vehicular traffic and no natural occurrences that have caused the condition of the bridge to worsen. In fact, it is obvious upon a careful reading of the inspection report ordered by PennDOT that the safety issue described reflects the gap in the truss caused by the accident that could allow someone to fall into the stream. Certainly, that is a safety issue and it should have been fixed - five years ago when it first occurred. Correcting the problem is as simple and inexpensive as installing protective fencing. The bridge is in no danger of falling into the creek.
The how and why of PennDOT's impulsive decision to undertake the expensive destruction of a National Registered Landmark as an alternative to much cheaper solutions is a complete mystery. Obviously, PennDOT has a hidden agenda, but we are not sure what it is. There is simply no good public policy reason why they would throw such a huge monkey wrench into the process at the final stage. They will almost certainly blame the township for something or other, but the reality is that they are the ones who have ambushed the township residents by effectively pulling the plug on the project.
What are the implications of such a rash action?
1. All of the time and effort expended to date will have been wasted. This represents a huge investment of public money that will have just been flushed away.
2. We need the bridge opened and destroying the bridge will push that back by years. The currently negotiated agreement with the township will die and efforts to put in a typical PennDOT highway bridge will cause a multitude of permitting problems adding greatly to the delays necessitated by redesigning the project yet again.
3. PennDOT has indicated that the trusses will be re-used if possible. Unfortunately, the truss and the supporting historic components of the bridge are almost certain to be damaged beyond repair unless a careful dismantling and proper storage plan is developed as part of the total plan for the bridge. That will not be the case in the event of an "emergency" demolition. PennDOT may not care, but we do. It is our history that will be destroyed.
The residents of Tinicum and the surrounding region have invested our hearts, souls, minds, and money in efforts to preserve our heritage and the integrity of our township. We are heavily invested in protecting this asset and recognize that it is an important part of what made our community what it was in the past and what it is today. We simply cannot allow PennDOT to destroy our heritage after years of agreeing to help us preserve it.
Be Proactive!
Calling and writing the people involved in making the decisions is always beneficial. In this case, the major decision maker is PennDOT, which needs concurrence from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They will also need to get permits from the Corp and/or DEP before they can proceed.
We need these agencies to take a better look at the situation so that they can make a more informed decision. Currently they are only listening to PennDOT which would be more than happy to put in a 50 foot wide bridge and call it a day. In essence, we need to tell the people involved that there is a better, faster, and cheaper way to get the bridge open.
Below is a list of people who need to be contacted immediately by phone, fax, or e-mail. You would be surprised, most of the time they don’t hear a word from their constituents so when they are contacted by lots of people they really do stand up and take notice. We don’t have e-mail addresses for everyone so if you have one that we don’t have, please forward it preservationist@paluc.org.
Also, please note that the Tinicum Supervisors are not on the list below because they are already doing everything in their power to resolve this issue properly and quickly. They are on our side and working hard for the residents of Tinicum.
PennDOT
Lester Toaso
PennDOT District 6 Executive
7000 Geerdes Blvd.
King of Prussia, PA 19406
610-205-6700
PennDOT
Allen Biehler
Secretary of Transportation
717-787-5574
abiehler@state.pa.us
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Barbara Franco
Executive Director
State Museum Building
300 North Street Harrisburg, PA 17120
Phone (717) 787-3362
Fax (717) 783-9924
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Lt. Col. Gwen Baker
District Commander
Philadelphia District
The Wanamaker Building
100 Penn Square East Philadelphia, PA 19107-3390
Phone: 215-656-6500
Fax: 215-656-6820
Email: gwen.e.baker@usace.army.mil
DEP
Kathleen McGinty
Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection
Rachel Carson State Office Building
400 Market Street Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: 717-783-2300
Governor Edward G. Rendell
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Phone: (717) 787-2500
Fax: (717) 772-8284
Contact via website: http://www.governor.state.pa.us
Congressman Patrick Murphy
60 North Main Street Doylestown, PA 18901
(215) 348-1194
Fax: (215) 348-1449
Marguerite Quinn
State Representative
143 rd District
1032 North Easton Road Doylestown, PA 18901-1055
(215) 489-2126
Fax: (215) 489-2129
email: mquinn@pahousegop.com
Chuck McIlhinney
PA Senate District 10
22 S. Main Street Doylestown, PA 18901
215-489-5000
email: cmcilhinney@pasenate.gov
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