PennDOT rejects group’s offer to buy Skinners Falls Bridge

After getting a permit from the National Park Service to demolish the Skinners Falls Bridge last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has announced it will begin the process to demolish the historic structure with explosives sometime in late March while also rejecting an offer to buy the bridge.

An official at a recent virtual public meeting said the bridge had been for sale but no offers had come forward. That prompted Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, a group committed to saving the Skinners Falls Bridge, to deliver a letter of intent to buy the bridge.

But activists who pinned their hopes on a purchase to save the bridge were disappointed and frustrated by PennDOT’s response.

“PennDOT would like to work with Damascus Citizens for Sustainability on mitigation options, but the proposal to acquire the bridge is not workable,” the department said in a statement. “The bridge is currently in a failed condition. An emergency action to remove the bridge needs to be completed before the start of the river recreational season for the safety of the river users. PennDOT cannot delay that emergency response.”

PennDOT added that the bridge is owned by the Pennsylvania-New York Joint Interstate Bridge Commission, and that transferring ownership would require legislative action.

“It’s a shame that PennDOT, the governor, or whoever else runs things in Pennsylvania can’t figure out how to give a bridge away,” said Joe Levine, an architect who has led historic restorations of buildings and who is also a founding member of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability.

“They couldn’t figure out how to take care of it, couldn’t figure out how to fix it,” he said. “All they come up with is to destroy it so that’s it’s one thing off their list. Especially given that they are clearly responsible for its condition and they are apparently clueless about how to comply with the law and take care of historic landmarks.”

Removal is only option, PennDOT says

Opened in 1902, the 466-foot bridge spans the Delaware River, which connects Milanville, Pa., in Wayne County, to Skinners Falls in Sullivan County, N.Y., has been closed to all traffic since 2019.

Local residents say the bridge connects the two hamlets as one community, and its closure has been devastating. “The bridge between communities has been destroyed,” said Cynthia Nash, a Milanville resident.

But the bridge has long exceeded its anticipated life span of 70 years. PennDOT said it analyzed different options and determined demolition was necessary to eliminate a risk to public safety. A January inspection confirmed the New York abutment and upstream truss-bearing areas are actively moving. 

“It is necessary to remove the bridge as quickly as possible to prevent an uncontrolled collapse,” PennDOT said.

The lead-up to the demolition includes moving equipment into position on the New York side of the bridge, improving the road leading to the bridge and building a causeway into the Delaware River allowing equipment to access the structure.

Activists see a solution

Richard Roman, the executive of PennDOT’s District Four, said the bridge is in such a dangerous state of disrepair that it could collapse at any moment.

“The abutment on the New York side of the river, which is a masonry component abutment, has some pieces of the masonry missing, and was starting to rotate,” he said. But Levine said that fixing such crumbling masonry is not out of reach.

“You build up a steel frame and with a jack system you lift the end of the bridge up,” he said. “It’s not a difficult thing to do. It’s loose on [the New York side]. It’s on rollers that are part of the design of the bridge – pins and rollers – and it rolls along the top of the pier to accommodate expansion and contraction and movement of the steel structure.”

A previous plan that had been considered — and then shelved — called for the bridge to be dismantled and parts of it stored for possible reuse.

Residents scoff at mitigation measures

At a public meeting this month, several ideas about mitigating the loss of the bridge were discussed, including signage and a scenic overlook, but most of the public participants on the call were more interested in discussing the bridge’s salvation instead.

Referring to that “mitigation,” the director of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Barbara Arrindell, scoffed at the notion of adding a plastic sign to commemorate the bridge.

“It’s like they are going to chop off your leg, and then to ‘mitigate’ that action, they are going to give you a picture of your leg to make it all better,” she said.

Upcoming restrictions related to the demolition

According to PennDOT:

• The fishing access area and parking lot will not be accessible for public use during construction. The work is anticipated to last until May 2025. 
• Recreation users are directed to exit the river upstream at Damascus and re-enter the river downstream at Narrowsburg.  River use will be restricted during the work. River users are strongly encouraged to avoid travelling and recreating under and around the bridge.  
• An Aids to Navigation Plan (ATON) for recreational river users to pass under the bridge is currently in effect, however buoys are not present because of river icing. Buoys and advisory signage will be installed in the river when the river is free of ice. 
• A complete river closure in the vicinity of the bridge will be necessary during a portion of the work. Check the National Park Service Upper Delaware River website for river alerts.   
• The area in and around the bridge will be fenced off for public safety. Public access will not be allowed for the duration of the work.