Demolition of Skinners Falls Bridge begins after connecting two states and uniting a community for 123 years

After a federal judge in Scranton denied an attempt to stop the demolition of the 123-year-old Skinners Falls Bridge, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation wasted no time in starting to tear it down.

Damascus Citizens for Sustainability unsuccessfully sought the court’s intervention to spare the bridge, which spans the Upper Delaware River from Milanville, Pa., to Skinners Falls, N.Y., from being dismantled. 

Promptly at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, with just a few prods from an excavator, half of the bridge gave way on the New York side. 

Only a few onlookers watched from the Pennsylvania side of the bridge. Most were surprised at how fast the structure collapsed, including Kerry Engelhardt, the resource and land use specialist at the Upper Delaware Council.

“It happened very quickly,” Engelhardt said. “I got here about 30 seconds before it went down, the sun was kind of in my eyes, but I think the excavator was pushing the abutment itself, and all of the other points had been cut off, so it just got that last point of weakness, and the bridge just dropped immediately.”

Engelhardt, whose background is in civil engineering, said: “It was kind of nice to have art and engineering combined in this bridge. It’s a real loss.”

Many living in the area raised their voices in opposition to PennDOT’s plan to bring down the bridge, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Most of the opponents simply decided to stay away. But Cathy Hopkins, who has had a home in the area since 1975, was there. And after watching the bridge collapse, she expressed her anger with PennDOT, accusing it of neglecting the iconic structure. 

“I’m extremely angry at PennDOT,” Hopkins said. “I’m extremely angry they let it rot for all these years, because it’s been rotting. They let this rot.”

Jeff Dexter, 75, has lived in the area for most of his life. He’s been visiting almost every morning, and he and his wife watched the demolition. For them, it was a sad morning. 

“The bridge has to be removed because of the neglect of PennDOT to take care of it,” Dexter said. “They quit maintenance a number of years ago, and they were not doing a whole lot before that.” 

Dexter emphasized that structures must be maintained or they stop functioning. 

“You don’t take care of your car, your car will cease to work for you,” he said. “You don’t take care of your home, your home’s going to come down on you. You don’t take care of your bridge, your bridge is going to come down.”

Reflecting on the structure, Dexter said, “For me, it’s the loss of an old friend.”