ELKRUN TOWNSHIP Bridge project hit by 2nd delay

After this, only one of the county's covered bridges will need to be renovated.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
ELKTON -- An effort to restore a historical covered bridge in Columbiana County is stalled while crews grapple with more problems than originally anticipated.
Renovation of the Church Hill Road Covered Bridge along state Route 154 in Elkrun Township was to have been done in August.
Completion is set for the end of this month, county Engineer Bert Dawson said Thursday.
This is the second delay for the project. In August, deputy engineer Bob Durbin said the project was being slowed by the discovery of rotted structural members which needed to be replaced.
Officials also determined that the bridge's foundation must have more work than originally thought.
The latest delay is caused by a decision to replace warped posts that help hold up the bridge's superstructure, Dawson explained.
Crews are awaiting delivery of white oak timbers from which new posts will be fashioned.
An increase in cost
The additional work on the bridge is increasing the project's cost.
Originally, the job was estimated at $6,000. The expense will now be close to $20,000, Dawson estimated.
Money for the project is coming from the county's road and bridge fund.
Once the work is completed, the 19-foot-long span, claimed to be the shortest such structure in the country, will look as good as it did when it originally was constructed in 1870, officials say.
Renovation has included a new wood-shingle roof and also will entail installing new siding.
The Church Hill Road bridge, named for where it once stood, is no longer open to vehicle traffic.
Visitors may still stop and walk across its planked deck and inspect the craftsmanship that went into these 19th-century structures.
The span is the second covered bridge in the county to be restored recently.
Early in 2003, crews completed work on a $295,000 project to renovate the Teegarden Centennial Covered Bridge along Eagleton Road in Salem Township.
Once the Church Hill Road bridge is finished, only one of Columbiana County's five covered bridges will need to be renovated: the McClellan Covered Bridge off Trinity Church Road in Center Township.
Dawson said the span eventually will be rebuilt but there are no immediate plans to undertake the task.