In the mid 50's, it was a big deal to us southsiders when they opened the new 15th Street Bridge. Prior to that, we had to either go over the 8th Street Bridge, or use the old stone arch bridge by the fertilizer plant. The fertilizer plant is long gone, but the old stone bridge is still there. Schreibers Bridge was built in 1828, and rehabilitated in 1920. The new 15th Street bridge was built in 1957, and is now restricted to south bound only, until which time it can be completely replaced. So the new bridge lasted 54 years, while the old stone bridge is still in use, 182 years later.
Recently, I urged Donny Cunningham not to replace the stone arch bridge on Reading Road. His project manager, Glenn Solt, insists that the historic bridge must be replaced. He stated that stone arch bridges look nice on the outside, but inside, they're filled with "crap." Thankfully, Don and Glenn didn't target Schreibers Bridge, because we're really going to need it with the new 15th Street Bridge out of commission. Hopefully, they will reconsider about stealing our history on Reading Road.
above reprinted from November of 2010
ADDENDUM APRIL 25, 2018: The 15th Street Bridge has been replaced. Historic Schreiber's Bridge will now be closed to repair the north side entrance wing, which was damaged by a truck during the new, new bridge replacement. I did manage to save the Reading Road Bridge. Hopefully, I can now prevail upon the new mayor, Ray O'Connell, to save the endangered Monumental Double Stairway in Lehigh Parkway.
A beautiful bridge - should be left intact with a regular maintenance schedule and restricted traffic limited to automobiles. It would be a terrible loss to see this one go....
ReplyDeleteIt does have a weight limit restriction. The problem is commercial drivers ignore weight limit and no trucks signs because they either don't know where they are going, thus following their GPS or don't give a damn about signs.
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