With the upcoming project to remove the Main Street bridge over the long-abandoned railroad tracks of the Perkiomen Line of the Reading Railroad, a look back at the project that placed it there shows construction back in 1928 was not without

In its heyday, eight trains traveled under the bridge each day.  The 1928 pro- ject to replace the bridge included widening the track bed up to 90 feet  between abutments to allow for double-track service on the railroad.

trouble.

            In its heyday, eight trains traveled under the bridge each day.

            It was in April of 1928 when the project started.  On April 26, the detour was set up and traffic was detoured around it.  The detour extended west on Eighth Street, south on Montgomery Avenue, then east on the Dozier farm, returning to Main Street just below the bridge.

            Parts of the detour route needed to be widened so two cars could pass.  The State Highway Montgomery County Representative made plans and promised to keep the detour in good condition.

            Contracted for the bridge project was L.H. Focht and Son of Reading, PA.  The

The project to replace the Main Street bridge over the railroad tracks in Pennsburg began in 1928 and was originally estima- ted to take six months to complete.  It ended up taking nearly one year to before it was finished and Main Street was re- opened.

project was expected to take six months.

            Whatever happened to the original plans we may never know.  Like some construction projects, things change, situations occur, and alterations are made.

            The original project to replace the bridge called for steel encased in concrete and included widening the track bed up to 90 feet between abutments to allow for double-track service on the railroad.  The portion for vehicular traffic was to be 28 feet from curb-to-curb.  A seven-foot pavement was to be provided on one side for pedestrians.  Concrete would replace the wooden logs bracing the approaches to the new bridge.

            The new bridge would be six feet higher than the current one.  This would cause Main Street to rise about five percent higher and require about 600 feet of fill on each side of the bridge.

            The Red Hill water main that passed over the present bridge was to be relocated under the railroad tracks.

            Local labor was to be used on the project with the exception of the engineer.  Forty local applicants were on hand to sign up for the job on the first day.

            Just two months after work began, John Renninger of Pennsburg was among the workers at the bridge construction site.  He was standing beneath the bucket of a steam shovel when, for an unknown reason, it opened up and poured out its contents over him.  Renninger was knocked unconscious and partially buried beneath the load of rocks and ground.  His fellow workers quickly retrieved him from under the debris.  He was revived on the scene and suffered no serious injuries.

            A week later, Pennsburg borough officials had to respond to numerous complaints about the poor condition of the detour roads.  State and county officials promised to keep the detour route in good condition but it didn't take long for the bypass to deteriorate to a point where even the fire trucks were having trouble traveling on them.

            Council instructed their solicitor, Jonathan B. Hillegass, to "take action to bring pressure upon state officials to improve the condition of the detour."  The state responded that they had previously expended all of the funds to improve the detour.

            A week after that, Dr. Charles Q. Hillegass, the Town and Country newspaper publisher, sent a letter to Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. J. Rein Keelor and Pennsylvania Highway Department Engineer D. C. Stackpole urging that the repairs be made. 

            One week later, Stackpole sent a letter to the Town and Country informing them that additional funds had been allocated and repairs to the detour route would be made immediately.  A layer of macadam would be laid across the stones that were already laid down.

            But, the project still had a ways to go.

            On Saturday, Sept. 22, 1928, while working as a carpenter at the bridge project, 33-year-old Albert Waltermeyer of Gulph Mills died when a support cable on a boom-derrick snapped causing it to crash onto him.  William Holzman of Collegeville suffered a fractured arm and leg in the incident.

            The project was now moving into its 11th month when the subject of the deteriorating condition of the detour had made the roads nearly impassable.  The layer of macadam over the dirt road on the Dozier farm road worked for a while; it had no base foundation and recent heavy rains and melting snow and ice softened the road surface to the point where it was non-existent.  Only a muddy surface remained.  With the poor condition of the detour, motorists were using other roads making them a muddy mess and nearly impassable.

            By now the bridge was complete and only the approaches needed to be finished.  So, for one last time, stones were hauled in and laid upon the deteriorating detour route.

            And after a year, the project was finally completed.

            By the way, it was never widened to 90 feet, and double railroad tracks never ran below it.