Patch Reader Starts Petition to Save the Hulton Bridge

A Plum-Oakmont Patch reader has formed an online petition in support of saving the Hulton Bridge.

John Goold recently posted the petition on Patch inviting signatures from anybody who favors exploring options that don't involve tearing down the historic bridge.

The Hulton Bridge replacement in Oakmont and Harmar Township is one of the most significant upcoming PennDOT projects in the area this year. Built in 1908, Hulton Bridge carries traffic over the Allegheny River between Oakmont and Harmar and has two lanes of traffic.

According to PennDOT, the scope of $60 million to $80 million project will include replacing the existing bridge with a "simple but elegant" four-lane structure just upstream of the existing bridge. Work begins in August.

Goold said he hates to see the bridge demolished because it was a feat of engineering when it was built.

“Imagine the workmanship and vision the engineers had that built the Hulton Bridge,” he commented on Patch. "When this bridge was constructed there were no semis. People should also understand that this bridge doesn't shake from being overloaded, it vibrates just like it was designed to do so that it has the flexibility to carry vehicles and weights that nobody could have imagined when that bridge was built.”

Goold pointed out that if we demolish bridges just because they are obsolete, there would not be the Golden Gate Bridge, The Brooklyn Bridge and even the Three Sisters in Pittsburgh.

“We keep those because they are an important part of our history,” he said. “Like it or not the Lovely Lacy Lavender Trusses of the Hulton Bridge are just as iconic for Oakmont as the Masonry Towers of the Brooklyn Bridge are for New York.”

The petition has garnered three signatures, including Goold’s. See the petition here.

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