MORGANTOWN — The construction took about two weeks.
Getting there was the hard part.
The Shack Neighborhood House held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday commemorating the opening of its new bridge across Scotts Run.
Shack personnel and board members were joined by representatives of the Milan Puskar Foundation, the Monongalia County Commission and Ryan Environmental, the Bridgeport firm that built the new span.
“It’s been a high priority for us and it’s a big checkbox that we’re able to mark off. It’s nice to not have to worry about it for a while,” Shack Executive Director Brady Tucker explained.
Tucker, who stepped into the position a couple months back, said his predecessor, Tiana Lasporgara, worked on replacing the bridge for much of her tenure with the community center.
“Tia was persistent about getting this done when she started as director three years ago. She finally got everything lined up with the funds, the contractor and everything before she left in September,” Tucker said.
The County Commission and Milan Puskar Foundation provided financial support for the work.
“It’s a thrill to be a part of this and I’m glad we could make this a safe situation for The Shack and all the residents here,” Commission President Tom Bloom said of the $50,000 provided by the county.
Derek Buzzo, project engineer from Ryan Environmental, explained that the new bridge has a wooden deck and removable side rails. It can handle loads up to 44 tons or so, about 10 times what the old bridge could handle by the time it was replaced.
