Mahoning River Bridge - Mahoningtown (New Castle) PA

In about 1850 a covered bridge, usually referred to as the Black Bridge (shown above), was built across the Mahoning River just below Mahoningtown, providing New Castle with better access to the area around Mt. Jackson. This bridge was in operation for many years until it was closed in early 1925 as construction of a new steel bridge got underway. The new bridge, located just below the old covered span, opened on August 31, 1925. The old covered bridge, a sentimental landmark, was torn down soon after. (c1904) (Lawrence County Historical Society photo)

The steel bridge was in operation until it was replaced with a new $2.6 million concrete deck bridge (shown above) at the same location in 2001. Construction of this bridge, which began in early May 2001, was fraught with short delays due to bad weather, cofferdam issues, and deck elevation discrepancies. The bridge finally opened to traffic on October 3, 2001, over a month behind the original schedule. PennDOT penalized the contractor, Carmon Paliotta Contracting Inc. (CPCI), a total of $140,000 for the delay. The dispute went to court and CPCI was awarded a return of the $140,000 plus another $192,000 or so in damages. (Mar 2012) Full Size

The Mahoning River was quite swollen due to recent rains when I took this photo. (Mar 2012)

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Looking north from the bridge you can see the old PRR Railroad Bridge, still in use by the modern trains of Norfolk Southern. (Oct 2012)