Historic dedication plaques dating from the original construction of Latrobe’s Brewery Bridge and its 1970s reconstruction are up for grabs for the highest bidders.
The plaques were removed during last year’s $2.4 million rehabilitation of the Westmoreland County-owned span that carries Ligonier Street across Loyalhanna Creek, next to the town’s brewery.
The 1931 and 1974 plaques are being sold separately, as is, with sealed bids accepted until 10 a.m. Friday by the county commissioners’ chief clerk, at 2 N. Main St., Suite 101, Greensburg.
Meanwhile, less extensive preservation work is being planned for four other county bridges across the Loyalhanna.
According to county engineer Vaughn Neill, the older plaque “was on one wall they had to cut out to adapt to the new construction.” The later plaque was added during the 1974 construction of a deck that was replaced, along with bridge beams, in the most recent work.
“We took them off the bridge, and there was never any intent to remount them,” Neill said of the plaques, which are being stored in the county public works building on Donohoe Road in Hempfield.
A relative of an official recognized at the 1974 bridge rededication has inquired about that year’s plaque, he said.
The Brewery Bridge project followed a $4.8 million PennDOT rehabilitation of the state-owned Lloyd Avenue bridge across Loyalhanna Creek, further upstream in Latrobe.
According to Neill, plans are underway for less-involved preservation work on four other Loyalhanna bridges that are owned by the county.
In a sequence heading downstream, those bridges cross the creek on Idlewild Hill Lane, in Ligonier Township; at the point where Ligonier Street on Latrobe’s North Side becomes McFarland Road in Derry Township; where an extension of McFarland Road meets Longs Road in Unity; and on Oasis Road, at the Derry-Unity township border.
“They’re in preliminary design now,” said Neill. “We’re hoping to wrap that up by the middle of this year. Then, they will go into final design.”
