Funding for the restoration of the Pomeroy Academia Covered Bridge has come from various sources. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission was the first to award a $70,000 Keystone Preservation Grant; the Pennsylvania Department of Economic and Community Development awarded $32,000; the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society donated $2,000. The Society raised in excess of $60,000 from private donors and fund raising efforts and received a low interest Infrastructure Bank Loan through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to fund the remaining portion of the pre-construction costs of $209,000. The construction costs will be funded by Transportation Enhancement funding received through SEDA-COG and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The first phase of the restoration of the Pomeroy Academia Bridge began on April 7, 2008. This phase involved dismantling the bridge, the inspection of each timber to determine what will be reused, and then ordering wood from which the new timbers will be cut. The replacement wood will be either Douglas fir or Southern Yellow Pine.

The siding was removed first, then the roof and its support structure. After that the Beale Twp. span was totally removed and then the Spruce Twp. span was removed. The following pictures of the dismantling are not inclusive. We have tried to show almost every important aspect of the dismantling process. Most of the pictures are of the Beale Twp. span. The intent is to show the order of the dismantling process.

The timbers inspection is complete. More timbers will have to be replaced than anticipated.

Beale Twp approach to the bridge before any work began.

An architectural design detail on the bridge, Beale Twp side.
The detail is missing on the right of the Beale Twp side (see previous picture).
On the Spruce Hill Twp side, the detail on the left side is missing.
A pattern, using one of the remaining details, will be made to replace the missing pieces

Orange X's mark timbers that cannot be utilized in the reconstruction.

Preparation of the causeway so that support shoring can be erected.
A large crane also must be able to reach the center of the bridge as large timbers are removed.

Causeway construction looking to the Beale Twp side.

Site preparation on the Spruce Hill Twp side for causeway construction

This photo is from the Spruce Hill Twp side of the bridge and shows site preparation.
A few trees had to be removed so that the causeway could be built on this side.

The first step in dismantling the bridge was removing the siding.
Picture taken from the Beale Twp side. None of the siding will be used in the reconstruction.

A view of the bridge from afar without it's siding.

A view of the bridge from Beale Twp side without its siding.

Erecting support shoring Beale Twp side.

A view of the support shoring; siding removed from bridge.

A view of the pier and the Spruce Hill side abutment.

A view of the Beale Twp abutment with the shoring in place.

Roof removal; first step is to remove the cross braces.
They are the diagonally placed timbers in the roof structure; some have been removed in this picture.

Quitting time; covering the structure against the elements.

Roof removal started on the Beale Twp side of the bridge.

A view of the roof being removed from the side.

In this view all of the support structure of the roof has been removed.

A view from the side - Beale Twp.

Closer view of the roof removal.

Roof removal Beale Twp side complete for this small section.

A view of the causeway built into the streambed;
it allowed water in the Tuscarora Creek to flow without interruption.

First phase of removing the deck;
note where the timbers rest into the stone abutment.

Close up showing timbers resting in the stone abutment.

Close up of the support structure under the deck.

Prying the deck boards loose.

Abutment fissure, Beale Twp side to be repaired.
The stone work will be pressure washed, loose grout will be removed and then the stones will be re-grouted.

At work removing loose grout.

At work removing loose grout.

Wing wall showing loose grout and stones.

Wing wall repointed.

Removing tie beams.

Crane removing tie beam.

Crane removing tie beam.

Stacking tie beams to for move to work site.

Removal of the inside arch on the right side, Beal Twp. side of bridge.

Removal of the inside arch on the left side, Beale Twp. side of bridge.

Removing floor beams Beale Twp. side.

View of underside of the bridge, Beale Twp. side, removing floor beams.

Removing top chord.

Removing vertical supports.

Removing the bottom chords.

Shoring supporting the bottom chords, Beale Twp. side.

View of bridge downstream showing the remaining timbers to be removed, Beale Twp. side.

View of the remaining timbers to be removed on the Beale Twp. side.

Removing the top lateral beams on the Spruce Hill Twp. side.

Temporary shoring supporting the Spruce Hill Twp. side.

Removing bottom cross braces Spruce Hill Twp. side.

Spruce Hill Twp. side with bottom braces removed.

Underside of the Spruce Hill Twp. side of the bridge, bottom braces removed.

Removing the bottom chords on the Spruce Hill Twp. side.

Downstream view of the remaining timbers to be removed from the Spruce Hill Twp. span.

The Pomeroy Academia Bridge dismantled.

Newly pointed abutment Beale Twp. side.

Close up of newly pointed abutment.

Wood from the bridge stacked and labeled ready to be reused.

Wood from the bridge stacked and labeled ready to be reused.

Wood from the bridge stacked and labeled ready to be reused.

On the Beale Twp. side of the bridge, the metal culvert over the defunct mill race was faced with stone giving it a much improved appearance.

Concrete collars were poured around both abutments and the pier to decrease the scouring effects of water flow.

Commencing the rebuilding of the bridge beginning on the Spruce Hill Twp. side.

The Beale Twp. side begins

The projected completion date for the bridge restoration is April 29th, 2009, barring any delays. Work will still be required for the park, for resurfacing of the macadam approaches to the bridge, stream restoration and miscellaneous work. The official ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 10 AM. The public is invited to attend.

History of the Bridge

On behalf of the Juniata County Historical Society I would like to thank Gary Shingledecker, the onsite Bridge engineering inspector, for his contribution of pictures to this web page; and most importantly to Michael Milliken, our volunteer web page manager, for his time, diligence and devotion to the construction of the Pomeroy Academia Covered Bridge Restoration page.

Audrey Sizelove, Vice President, Juniata County Historical Society

All written content and photos �2001-2009 Juniata County Historical Society, all rights reserved.