CENTER TOWNSHIP Crossing next covered bridge

Once the MeClellan Bridge is rebuilt, it might be moved to a less remote spot.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Columbiana County has a rich heritage when it comes to covered bridges, and steps are being taken to ensure that the legacy endures.
As crews finish restoration work in coming weeks on one covered bridge, plans already are being laid to restore another of the spans.
County Engineer Bert Dawson, whose office is responsible for the county's covered bridges, says he hopes to next rebuild the McClellan Covered Bridge.
The 1871 structure is the last of the county's five covered bridges that needs to be rebuilt.
It sits on a remote site just off Trinity Church Road in Center Township.
The setting
Shaded by sycamores, the 50-foot bridge sags over a stream that flows along a meadow. The bridge is open to foot traffic only.
Dawson said he wants to pursue a federal grant available to redo covered-bridges.
A grant could account for most, if not all, of the estimated $300,000 cost.
If all goes as planned, the project could be undertaken in 2004 or 2005, Dawson said.
In rebuilding the McClellan Bridge, Dawson said, he'll follow the model used in restoring the Teegarden Centennial Bridge. That project started in the spring and is expected to be done later this month.
The county hired a contractor, W.M. Brode Co. of Newcomerstown, that specializes in the work.
The company dismantled the 1876 bridge and hauled it to a shop in Alliance, where its timber frames were re-created using white oak lumber.
In the past few days, crews have returned the Teegarden bridge to its site along Eagleton Road in Salem Township.
They're assembling the bridge and will spend the next few weeks installing decking, sheathing and a roof.
The project is costing about $295,000 and is being paid for with $50,000 from county road and bridge money, with the remainder coming from state and federal grants.
Original dimensions
An effort to rebuild the McClellan Bridge will seek to painstakingly re-create its original dimensions, but it may not return the bridge to the location where it now sits.
Dawson said he's concerned about the site's remoteness and the fact that covered bridges are targets for vandals.
Nationwide, dozens of covered bridges have been lost through arson, and Columbiana County has not escaped that scourge.
Three bridges in the county have been destroyed by arsonists since 1988, the most recent case being the 1995 burning of the 116-year-old Miller Road Covered Bridge in Center Township.
Dawson said he will consider having a rebuilt McClellan Bridge moved to a less solitary spot.
It might be worthwhile to install the bridge on the Greenway Trail, a 12-mile, county-owned hike-bike path between Lisbon and Leetonia, Dawson said.