MEYERSDALE, PA. County officials want to save historic iron railroad bridge

A plan calls for moving it to link parts of the Allegheny Highlands Trail.
MEYERSDALE, Pa. (AP) -- State officials say the historic Wells Creek Bollman Bridge in Somerset County must be torn down, but county officials want the 131-year-old iron railroad bridge to be moved and reopened.
The state Public Utility Commission ordered the bridge closed due to structural problems in January 2000. Documents show the bridge was designed in 1871 by a self-taught, well-known engineer named Wendell Bollman.
Brett Hollern, the county's trails and greenways coordinator, said he wants the 81-foot span moved to a ravine to link parts of the Allegheny Highlands Trail, which passes through southern Somerset County.
Hollern said those who favor saving the bridge aren't sure if the bridge should be left intact and moved in one piece to a new site, or taken apart and rebuilt somewhere else.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials say they've contacted engineers to view the bridge to determine if saving it is even possible because cast-iron railroad bridges are more scarce than wooden covered bridges.
But officials said no money is available for a formal study to determine if the bridge can and should be saved.