Out with the old, in with the new
Later this month, if all goes as planned, motorists on Route 21 will be able to cross the Monongahela River, between Greene and Fayette counties, on the first half of the new Masontown Bridge.
The first portion of the new bridge has been constructed next to the old bridge, a structure that has stood for more than 88 years and will now be razed to make room for the construction of the second half of the new bridge.
Riding on the new bridge should be a pleasant experience, not only because of the novelty but also because of the feeling of dread many motorists have come to know when crossing the existing narrow two-lane span. Plans for a new bridge have been discussed since 2000, when the project was recommended in a state Department of Transportation study focusing on improvements to the Route 21 corridor between Waynesburg and Uniontown.
The study determined a new bridge was needed, citing projections of increased traffic on Route 21 as well as the age and design of the existing structure, which was designated substandard partially because of its narrow width. Traffic projections prepared back then, on which the study was based, couldn’t possibly have taken into account the increase in truck traffic seen in recent years from drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
Local officials pushed hard to obtain funding for the project because of the highway’s importance as the main traffic route between Waynesburg and Uniontown.
The new bridge, when the second half is completed late next year, should be spacious compared to the old one.
The old bridge’s two traffic lanes are each 12 feet wide, but it has no shoulders or median.
The new one will have two 12-foot traffic lanes in each direction, outside shoulders, inside shoulders and a median.
After traffic is switched to the new bridge later this month, work will begin to dismantle the old bridge. Its steel frame eventually will be dropped into the Mon by a controlled explosion.
PennDOT officials say the demolition will be completed within two months. So those who want to retain a record of the old structure, which represents a design no longer seen in bridge construction, may want to take their pictures now.
The old bridge was built in the early 1920s and dedicated as the “Inter-county Bridge” in 1925. The bridge has served its purpose for many years but its time is passed.