“While it’s been a long time coming for community members, it’s been a top priority for the Division of Highways since day one,” District 7 Engineer Brian Cooper stated in a press release.

Contractors for Span 1 LLC are currently installing scaffolding and rigging to replace the bridge’s wooden siding and portions of the upper superstructure.

Upshur County’s Tiger Diversified LLC was awarded a contract in late May to provide the timber for the restoration project. Once scaffolding and rigging are in place, the District 7 Bridge Department will restore the structure.

An Aug. 10, 2017 fire — which was later determined to be arson — destroyed much of the outer covering of the bridge, but left the basic structure mostly intact.

Once scaffolding and rigging are in place, the District 7 Bridge Department will restore the structure.

After making minor repairs to the deck and structure to ensure the bridge was safe, the DOH reopened it to traffic in September 2017. DOH then hired a consultant to best determine how to restore the historic bridge.

Consultants Mead & Hunt, who have done extensive work on the Philippi Covered Bridge, determined what portions of the old wooden superstructure could be saved and installed temporary bracing to shore up the remains of the roof system.

The bridge is the third-oldest surviving covered bridge in West Virginia and was built in 1856 by Emmett and Daniel O’Brien, and crosses the Buckhannon River near the town of Carrollton.

At 140 feet long, it is the second-longest surviving covered bridge in West Virginia.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.