Monday, May 03, 1999

Bridge gets new lease on life

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Butler restores rare covered one

BY RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Black Covered Bridge, on Corso Road in Butler County, is undergoing a top-to-bottom, $758,000 restoration. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        OXFORD — Oxford's bridge to the new millennium is already about 130 years old.

        Black Covered Bridge — one of two covered bridges left in Butler County, also known as the Pugh's Mill Bridge on Four Mile Creek — sits on Corso Road, near Ohio 732.

        If the weather is favorable, workers will finish renovating the bridge by June, said County Engineer Dean Foster.

        It will be used by pedestrians and bicyclists.

        “Right now, about half of the roof rafters are on,” said Gerald Collins, chairman of Save Our Span, the Black Bridge restoration committee. “When completed, the project will be about 65-70 percent original. The job is being done by Amish carpenters who are very meticulous in their work ethic, so we're getting high quality.”

65 percent complete
        Mr. Foster said workers have finished the north side of the bridge and most of the south. He hopes to install a cobblestone ramp leading to the bridge, which has been cut off from vehicular traffic for decades. Cost of the project, when completed, will be about $758,000, he said.

        “When they got into this project,” Mr. Collins said, “they found some additional rotten timbers. As a result, it delayed the entire project by almost one year. The good news is that the bridge is about 65 percent complete.”

        Mr. Foster said the bridge should be strong enough to last 100 years.

        “Now, if we could just train the carpenter ants to stay away from it,” he said.

        Now that the long-awaited renovation is months from completion, covered-bridge lovers are monitoring the progress.

        “The workers are doing some great work on it,” said Ric Cengeri, an original proponent of saving the bridge. “I drove by it one week and nothing was happening. The next week, all kinds of work had been done. They've taken everything off and they've rebuilt it. The sides come next. If you haven't seen it lately, there's some real progress out there.”

On National Register
        The bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1869. At one time, more than 12,000 covered bridges existed across the country, but most have been de stroyed by floods, fire and vandalism.

        Since Ohio 732 was rerouted in 1951, motor traffic has been prohibited on the bridge. In 1976, the county erected a wire fence to keep away pedestrians. Ever since, local history enthusiasts have dreamed of restoring the piece of Butler County history.

        Several years ago, they formed a group called Save Our Span. Members raised about $71,000 toward the project. The state and county will share the rest of the cost.

        “When the workers are finished, our committee will go in and landscape the area and put up a stone to commemorate the donors,” Mr. Collins said. “We'll have a brass plaque to tell about the committee. We're shooting for dedication in the fall.”

       

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