A project last year restored the weight limit to 7 tons, still not enough for some larger emergency vehicles

NARROWSBURG –A plan to demolish the 1904 Pond Eddy Bridge that connects the Town of Lumberland, NY with Shohola Township in Pennsylvania is being opposed by the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway organization.

The current seven-ton posted bridge provides access to 27 private properties, Pennsylvania State Game Lands, Delaware State Forest, and Norfolk-Southern Railroad properties in Pond Eddy, PA. 

A plan in the works would have the existing bridge razed and a new one built at an approximate cost of $12 million, to be shared equally by New York, Pennsylvania and the federal government, since the bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Scenic Byway has adopted a resolution that the determination to demolish the existing bridge be reconsidered and that an independent study be conducted for a rehabilitation alternative to upgrade the historic bridge to a “higher capacity standard to meet existing safety needs while preserving the unique design that complements the region’s rural character.”

If rehabilitation does not prove a viable option, the Byway also seeks a feasibility study of securing a federal waiver from any requirements for a new bridge to meet modern interstate standards of 40 tons and 20 feet wide and of building an access road on the land-locked Pennsylvania side of the bridge.