Zettlemoyer’s Bridge Rehabilitation

Built in 1904, Zettlemoyer’s Bridge is a historic Pratt truss bridge carrying Long Road over Maiden Creek in Berks County. Over the years, the bridge underwent two major rehabilitations: 1958 to replace the wooden plank deck, and 2020 to replace deteriorating steel members and failing bituminous deck. Prior to the 2020 rehabilitation, Zettlemoyer’s Bridge was closed to traffic in September 2012 due to its deteriorated condition. Road-Con contracted with the County of Berks to complete the rehabilitation of the structure in early 2019 to replace the existing steel floor beams, stringers, connecting pins, and install a new laminated timber deck with bituminous wearing surface. Truss bridges are difficult structures to rehab, in part because of the complex calculations, temporary supports required, and special construction sequences needed to replace every steel member. During the construction phase, the County of Berks authorized the cleaning and painting of the existing truss, which put the finishing touch on this beautiful bridge.

Road-Con assembled a team of trusted subcontractors and suppliers to aid us in completing the project including Larson Design Group (engineering), Jupiter Painting & Contracting (bridge painting), Morgan Rail (guide rail), Pelet’s Welding (bridge steel), and Laminated Concepts (timber decking).