Crews make repairs to historic Westmoreland County covered bridge

Editor’s note: Bells Mills Road and bridge reopened Tuesday.

Crews worked Monday to repair parts of a historic covered bridge damaged recently in an apparent hit-and-run. Part of Bells Mills Road had been closed for several days.

The damage on Bells Mills Bridge, which connects South Huntingdon and Sewickley townships, was relatively minor — a few pieces of wooden railing were ripped off supports and an end post that holds up the roof was hit. Parts of the wooden railing were replaced Monday.

County engineer Vaughn Neill said end end post was moved back into place with equipment. The new wood will be painted in the spring. The damages totaled about $2,000.

The red wooden bridge was built in 1850 over Sewickley Creek. The county completely rebuilt it in 1988, eight years after it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The structure was named for the Bell brothers who operated a nearby gristmill in the 19th century.

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@tribweb.com or via Twitter @byrenatta.