ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh County’s oldest bridge soon will be shut down for repairs to ensure it stands the test of time for generations of residents to come.
Bogert’s Covered Bridge is due to close Sept. 15. It's expected to be out of commission for about a year, officials said Thursday.
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk called the 184-year-old bridge “a true icon for the city of Allentown.”
“It's a bridge that has been with us for more than a century, and we want to make sure that it's with us for another century to come."Mayor Matt Tuerk
“It's a bridge that has been with us for more than a century, and we want to make sure that it's with us for another century to come,” Tuerk said. “That means that we're going to have to invest in this site.”
Mandy Tolino, who leads Allentown’s parks and recreation department, said crews soon will start work to raise the bridge to correct its sagging midsection and install a new roof.
They will use “as much of the existing resources on the bridge as possible,” Tolino said.
“At the end of all this, you’re going to have a brand-new old bridge that’s historically accurate,” she said.
'No better use of funds'
The project will close the bridge to all traffic, with the city to open a temporary pedestrian pathway to ensure residents still can access that part of Lehigh Parkway.
Tolino said her team — and that of former director Karen El-Chaar — “worked diligently” to secure grants for the $2.57 million restoration project.
She and Tuerk thanked the Trexler Trust, Friends of the Parks, the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges and the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society of PA for contributing funding alongside the state Transportation Department and other state sources.
“At the end of all this, you’re going to have a brand-new old bridge that’s historically accurate."Mandy Tolino, parks and recreation director
Scott Pidcock, a Trexler Trust trustee, said he saw “no better use of funds than for this” project.
City staff worked with organizers of many foot races that use Bogert’s Covered Bridge to reroute their courses during construction, Tolino said.
Neal Novak, a board member and former president for the Lehigh Valley Road Runners — which organizes the St. Luke’s Half Marathon — attended Thursday's news conference, where he and his wife got a shoutout from Tuerk for being stewards of the bridge.
The soon-to-be-79-year-old recalled riding over the bridge in cars when he was a kid before it was closed to vehicular traffic.
Novak said it’s “fabulous” that the bridge soon will benefit from investment.
He said he’s excited to see runners cross the bridge again when construction is finished.
