Gudgeon Bridge Beams to be Saved

WGN PA-25-03

 

Girard Township, Erie County, December 25. 2008 - Timbers from the burned-out Gudgeonville bridge will be salvaged and stored until township supervisors decide what to do with them.

Girard Township supervisors voted Tuesday to seek new proposals from companies bidding to remove the remains of the covered bridge. Bids already received vary in price and aren't specific enough on how the bridge would be removed and what would be done with charred timbers, Township Supervisor Bill Felege said.

Contractors will be required to salvage timbers from the bridge deck and take them to the township building.

The Gudgeonville bridge was arsoned November 8. On December 17, Joshua M. Bell, 21, of Albion, and Jeffrey A. Gleason, 23, of Conneautville, were charged by the State police with setting the fire. Bell is in Erie County Prison on charges related to the arson. Gleason is in the Crawford County Correctional Facility on burglary and other charges unrelated to the burning of the bridge.

Girard Township supervisors will accept bids to demolish bridge remains until 4 p.m. on Jan. 5.

See: http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081225/NEWS02/312259869.