Pollocks Mill Bridge Incident 09.28.14

One of the things that SWPa is noted for, is the large amount of bridges.  When someone thinks of Greene County bridges, most likely, they imagine one of the Covered Bridges dotting the countryside. While the covered bridges are cool enough, I've always liked the old metal brides a little better.  There were literally tons of them in our area, some are GONE and FORGOTTEN, some are largely unknown and a handful still survive.  
A few years back, Danielle did a story on a few of the Old Iron Bridges of Greene County.  We noticed a lot of interest lately in this post, so we decided to do an update to the Pollocks Mill bridge. 

     Everybody in this area of Greene County knows this bridge.  Senior pictures, wedding pictures, band pictures have been taken here. People regularly fish here.  Parties happen.....(we have heard)...  So when we heard of the incident of the water truck, we went on down to investigate.

     According to HISTORICBRIDGES.ORG, The Pollocks Mill bridge was erected in 1878 by the Massillon Bridge Company in Ohio.  Also mentioned is the fact that any Iron Bridge that is older then  1880 is considered historic and worthy of saving.  Click the link above to learn more.

     On the evening of September 28th, 2014 , a 30 plus ton water truck attempted to cross the posted 4 ton limit bridge.  on our FaceBook page, there was a lot of speculation of why this happened, and whether or not the posted weight limit signs from last years pictures were removed...(they were not, just relocated further up the road).   The purpose of our post here is not political or critical, just documentation of the incident. 

      I overheard lots of "just how the hell are they gonna get that truck outta there" theories when I was taking the pictures Sunday.  Some people were speculating the worst, cutting the deck, letting it fall, or bringing a crane down and cutting the top off the bridge.  So We headed on down the next day and watched as they extracted the truck.  Wade's towing, a local company, pulled the truck free at an undramatic 1/2 mph pace with no more damage being inflicted on the bridge.  It seems the bridge is a lot more sturdy then we thought, as the giant wrecker was also partially on the bridge, pulling the truck free.  

Chip and I went down Monday and shot some video of the area and speculated on the bridge....click the image below...

     It's too soon to know what will happen to the bridge.    We'll keep you updated....