A couple of days later when the ground dried out, truckloads of rock were brought and placed under the abutment to create a foundation. This made it possible for the Lapps to do their work without standing in the creek and, later, it was the base for the rip-rap (large boulders) to rest upon, creating an erosion control barrier. The Lapps had the work done in a few weeks. A final inspection cleared the bridge to open for public use once again. The West Paden Bridge still needed attention. After a bidding process, Lycoming Supply Company started to rebuild the bridge. Most of the recovered pieces of the destroyed bridge were not re-usable. All the main support structures had to be created from new material. That meant that even the Burr arch had to be re- cut. This was a long process and finally, in 2008, the West Paden Covered Bridge was back and open to the public. •
John Lapp and family pouring concrete at the Josiah Hess Bridge.
Full reconstruction of the West Paden Covered Bridge was necessary. Photos courtesy of Bob Sheldon.
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