Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge
Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge | |
|---|---|
The Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge from the Milanville side of the river in March 2009. | |
| Coordinates | 41°40′11″N 75°03′30″W / 41.669626°N 75.058358°W |
| Carried | Skinners Falls Road (New York) Calkins Road (SR 1002; Pennsylvania) |
| Crossed | Delaware River |
| Locale | Milanville, Pennsylvania and Cochecton, New York |
| Official name | Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge |
| Owner | New York–Pennsylvania Joint Interstate Bridge Commission |
| Maintained by | New York–Pennsylvania Joint Interstate Bridge Commission |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Baltimore truss |
| Total length | 466.5 feet (142.2 m) |
| Longest span | 232.0 feet (70.7 m) |
| No. of spans | Two |
| Piers in water | 1 |
| Clearance above | 16 feet (4.9 m) (bridge) 8.5 feet (2.6 m) (overhead bars) |
| History | |
| Designer | American Bridge Company |
| Construction start | 1901 |
| Construction end | November 1902 |
| Opened | 1902 |
| Closed | 2010–2013, 2015–2016, 2018, 2019–2025 |
| Demolished | April 17, 2025–April 21, 2025 |
| Statistics | |
| Toll | $0.22 (at opening) $0.25 (upon elimination of tolls) |
| Location | |
The Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge was a bridge spanning the Delaware River between Milanville, Damascus Township, Pennsylvania and the hamlet of Skinners Falls in Cochecton, New York. The 466.5-foot (142.2 m) long Baltimore truss bridge carried traffic of Calkins Road (State Route 1002) in Milanville and Skinners Falls Road in Cochecton over a single wooden lane of traffic until its final closure in October 2019. The bridge was one of two bridges on the National Register of Historic Places along the river in Sullivan County (the other being Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct), and was a contributing member of the Milanville Historic District.
Replacing a ferry run by descendants of the Skinner family, the Milanville Bridge Company came into existence in May 1901 to establish a new bridge between the two communities. After facing local opposition from competing bridges along the river, the bridge, built by the American Bridge Company of New York City, opened in November 1902. A flood in late March 1904 wiped out the New York span of the bridge, requiring reconstruction of the span. The New York–Pennsylvania Joint Interstate Bridge Commission bought the bridge in April 1923, eliminating the Milanville Bridge Company and tolls on the bridge.
The bridge in recent years struggled to stay together as it aged and after several attempts to repair the bridge through closings and repairs, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) closed the bridge for good on October 16, 2019 after finding parts of the bridge deteriorating. Despite multiple attempts to consider restoration of the old bridge, a metal brace fell into the river in 2024, resulting in the necessity of removing the structure from the river. Initial hopes were to dismantle the bridge and restore it offsite, but on December 17, 2024 PennDOT announced that the bridge would be demolished entirely due to having completely failed and lack of expectation that it would survive the dismantling project. Demolition of the bridge began exactly five months later on April 17, 2025 and the bridge ceased to exist on April 21.