Saving The Span

Bridge Demolition Cancelled; Residents Exploring Options To Permanently Save It

PUCKETT’S HOLE, Va. – Diane Fuller is clinging to a new letter. And, with this, she’s hoping to save a Clinch River bridge that dates back to 1889.
Until July 30, Fuller had feared the single-lane span near Puckett’s Hole in Russell County would be destroyed by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).
“They come close to demolishing that bridge,” Fuller said. “They were going to demolish it August the first.”
Only, for years, hardly anyone knew.
In a report issued at a public hearing on Aug. 19, 1997, VDOT officials had promised to keep the bridge intact, even as a new, $1.6 million bridge was built beside it on State Route 652.
But, earlier this year, schoolteacher William Monk discovered that the old, 11-foot-wide bridge was slated to come down after all.
That’s when Fuller, Monk and several other Russell County residents campaigned to save the span.
Now, with the new bridge open, Fuller is holding a copy of a July 30, 2009 letter from Calvert W. McIlhany, the district cultural resources manager with VDOT.
“VDOT is currently in the process of canceling the demolition contract,” McIlhany wrote. “VDOT will allow local preservation advocates a reasonable period of time to develop a re-use plan and seek a source of funding for these purposes.”
This letter now gives Fuller – and others associated with the Russell County Historical Society and Honaker Heritage Museum – until November 2010 to “explore funding options” for the bridge, said Michelle Earl, a spokeswoman for the Bristol district of VDOT.
Earl said, “This decision was made from the feedback that we had been receiving from the interested parties.”
The metal bridge – a Pratt Truss design, constructed by the Groton Bridge and Manufacturing Company – originally spanned the riverbanks at Blackford, a few miles upstream on the Clinch along what is now State Route 80.
It replaced a ferryboat operated by David Black, the man for whom Blackford was named.
The 224-foot-long bridge was moved to its present location in 1946.
In his letter, McIlhany suggested moving the bridge, noting, “This would eliminate the long-term risk of damaging the new bridge due to any failure, flood or otherwise, of the old one.”
Ideally, Fuller said she wants to move the bridge to an area away from the Clinch River.
“It looks awful nice down there,” Fuller said. “But I think it would be better enjoyed in another location. It would be easier to keep it painted.”
VDOT officials have determined the old bridge would need an initial $350,000 for necessary repairs – including the replacement of 15 bridge members and a paint job. It must also be subject to an annual safety inspection, expected to cost $10,000, Earl said.
The old bridge remains the property of VDOT, Earl said, and is now closed to both vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
Fuller, meanwhile, is exploring ideas for grants and searching for ways to have the bridge listed on historic landmark registers.
What’s more, she said, “We have to decide what we’re going to do with it.”

YOU SHOULD KNOW
For more information: Contact the Honaker Heritage Museum, 5738 Redbud Hwy., Honaker, Va. Call (276) 873-4411.
Editor’s note: The fate of the Puckett’s Hole Bridge was the subject of a Community story, published June 28, 2009, in the Bristol Herald Courier.