U.S. District Judge Karoline Mehalchick issued a ruling April 15 denying a request to stop the imminent demolition of the Skinners Falls/Milanville bridge.
Attorneys for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation argued that the Skinners Falls Bridge must be demolished for public safety, refuting claims in a federal lawsuit filed April 7 by Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS), Inc., faulting the state’s rationale for taking down the deteriorated bridge.
PennDOT’s contractor, which had finished the stone causeway in the Delaware River beneath the bridge, was expecting to bring down the bridge with explosives Thursday, April 10. Instead, the court issued a temporary restraining order April 9, immediately pausing the work.
Mehalchick presided at an evidentiary hearing on April 11.
DCS, based in Milanvillle, and Cynthia Nash, also of Milanville and a close neighbor to the bridge, are the plaintiffs.
The defendants are Sean Duffy, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation; Kristin White, acting administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); T. Alicia Nolan, FHWA Pennsylvania Division administrator; Michael B. Carroll, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation; and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Plaintiffs’ case
DCS brings this action, the complaint states, “to challenge the decision of Defendants to reject the feasible and prudent alternative of rehabilitating the historic Bridge based on a pretextual ’emergency’ situation, despite the fact that Defendants’ regulations provide that the situation does not warrant any exemption from federal environmental and historic preservation laws.”
It goes on to claim the defendants’ decision to demolish the bridge “was preceded by years of neglect of the Bridge, resulting in its deterioration.”
A worker with J.D. Eckman, PennDOT’s general contractor to take down and remove the Skinners Falls Bridge, uses a blowtorch at the bridge on April 4, 2025. This was taken from the Milanville, Pennsylvania, side.
DCS has been advocating for an alternative to demolishing the bridge. DCS was a consulting party to the project under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which is invoked because the bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places, and part of the Milanville Historic District. The 1902 bridge is one of only three remaining pin-connected Baltimore through-truss bridges in Pennsylvania.
The complaint makes several accusations, including that inadequate action was taken to repair cracks in the stone abutment on the New York side in the past, that PennDOT repeatedly deferred maintenance for over a decade and that the bridge conditions in October used to justify a “failed” condition have been present since at least 2017
In 2021, PennDOT, FHWA and New York State Department of Transportation initiated a study, outlining and weighing options for the bridge’s fate. “Hundreds of commenters asked that the Bridge be rehabilitated and re-opened,” the complaint notes.
The complaint includes detailed counts based on the National Environmental Policy Act, the Department of Transportation Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment.
It also charges that the governor’s emergency declaration, made at PennDOT’s request, to expedite the review and permitting process is invalid.
The suit asks the court to order full compliance with regulations; for a stop-work order until defendants have fully complied with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Environmental Rights Amendment; to declare the emergency declaration invalid; and to award the plaintiffs their attorneys’ fees, costs and disbursements.
PennDOT: Any delay adds risk
“Demolition preparation has further compromised the stability of the structure and created additional risks,” PennDOT’s lawyers wrote in an April 10 filing. “Currently, although work on the bridge removal has stopped, the contractor is on standby in case the bridge collapses.”
Recent preparatory work included “removing the guiderail, most of the decorative railing and three feet of decking on each side of the bridge,” raising the risk to trespassers, PennDOT said. Preparation also included “cutting three of the four anchor bolts that attach the bridge stringers to the abutments on either side of the river. This loosens the stringers and could further compromise the bridge.”
A crane is parked in front of the Skinners Falls Bridge on the Milanville, Pennsylvania, side, April 4, 2025. Once the bridge is brought down in an explosion, the crane will be needed to remove the pieces.
PennDOT has stressed the urgency to remove the bridge to protect the public and to do it before the busy river recreation season, which starts in earnest around Memorial Day.
PennDOT argues that Shapiro lawfully declared an emergency based on multiple inspections. An October 2024 inspection lowered the bridge condition to an overall “failed” state. A January inspection showed that the cracked stone abutment on the New York side had moved.
PennDOT also counters that the project does comply with federal regulations.
PennDOT notes that the current costs to prepare, take down and remove the bridge are $8,173,409. The construction and removal of the causeway costs $4,210,000. If a preliminary injunction is granted, “PennDOT will be required to pay $4,495,118 to shut down the Project, which includes the causeway costs and ongoing inspections,” the defendant’s counsel argues. New permits clearance and bidding will be required.
“Due to the condition of the bridge and the danger of metal falling off the bridge, any delay in completing the Project adds risk to river users,” the lawyers argue, requiring continued measures to keep boaters away and exposing PennDOT to potential liability “for any damages that may result from items falling from the bridge or uncontrolled collapse.”
PennDOT’s counsel argue, “If the preliminary injunction is granted, PennDOT will be forced to leave standing a bridge at risk of uncontrolled collapse. The only reasonable alternative to address the risk posed by the bridge is demolition. PennDOT will be unable to protect the public and the aquatic resources from the danger created by the structurally failed bridge.”
Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Request to stop Skinners Falls Bridge demolition rejected by court