PERKASIE – Perkasie County has hired an engineering firm to oversee the reopening of the historic 1832 covered bridge in Lenape Park.
On Sept. 3, the Perkasie Borough Council awarded a contract for engineering and design consulting services for the rehabilitation of the South Perkasie Borough Covered Timber Bridge to Wood Research and Development LLC of Jefferson, Oregon and Jacksonville, Florida, according to a Perkasie Borough press release.
The remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021 tore the covered bridge from its abutments during historic flooding in Lenape Park. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) awarded grants in June 2023 to repair the damage caused by the flooding. Prior to Hurricane Ida, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission and the Perkasie Historical Society donated funds for a project to rehabilitate the bridge.
Seven engineering firms submitted qualified proposals for the task of restoring Bucks County’s oldest covered bridge during a two-month bid process. The other firms came from Pennsylvania, Indiana and Virginia. The Perkasie Borough Council’s Historical Committee, with input from the borough leadership, selected Wood Research and Development based on evaluation criteria required by FEMA. The council unanimously approved the selection, the press release said.
“We were fortunate to have some of the best firms in the country interested in the project because of the unique status of the South Perkasie Covered Bridge,” said Scott Bomboy, chairman of the council’s Historical Committee. “It is the third oldest Town Lattice-style covered bridge in the United States and a special example of an original covered bridge. We intend to keep as much of the bridge intact as possible, including all of the ‘carvings’ inside the bridge.”
The contract to Wood Research and Development was for $195,030 and was funded entirely by FEMA and other grants. The company will oversee the design and repair plan for the wood bridge and its abutments and then work with construction crews. The covered bridge will remain in its current location and will extend above the 100-year flood plain. It will also feature other improvements to mitigate future flood damage.
The design and engineering project is scheduled to begin in early October 2024 and be completed in January 2025. Separate construction contracts for the timber bridge and abutments will be awarded in spring 2025, and the covered bridge is scheduled to reopen to the public in late August 2025, the release said.
Wood Research and Development (WRD) specializes in the inspection, testing, engineering and design of wood structures, including covered bridges. WRD has a wood testing laboratory in Oregon and conducts extensive training at its facilities. WRD also has offices in Canada and Australia.
Dr. Dan Tingley, WRD’s co-founder and chief wood technologist, holds 42 patents in wood and high-strength composites. WRD’s notable projects include the restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wingspread in Racine, Wisconsin, the Keystone Wye wooden highway bridge in South Dakota and the Bayswater Covered Bridge in New Brunswick, Canada, the press release said.
The South Perkasie Covered Bridge was saved from demolition by its residents in 1958 and relocated to Lenape Park. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service in 1980.
For more information, contact Andrea L. Coaxum, Perkasie Borough Manager, at 215-257-5065 or [email protected] or Scott Bomboy, chair of the Perkasie Borough Council Historical Committee, at 215-527-1016 or [email protected].
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