On Sunday, November 20, 2016, a vehicle crashed and flipped over inside the Sheeder Hall Covered Bridge, causing extensive damage to the structural support frame. The bridge was closed indefinitely while PennDOT examined the damage and determined a strategy for repairing the structure. The bridge is located in Chester County which at one time boasted 85 different covered bridges. Today, only 15 remain and Sheeder Hall is the oldest of them all, built in 1850. It was important to the Chester County community to have the bridge repaired with historical relevance. The bridge itself is a single-span timber bridge 102 feet in length and 15 feet across. It is estimated that an average of more than 1,000 vehicles used the bridge per day prior to its closure.
Repairs began on the bridge in early 2017 and Portland Bolt was called upon to supply the hardware required to hold the timber frame in place. Because this was a PennDOT job, the fasteners had to be Bulletin 15 approved and 100% domestic which made Portland Bolt the perfect manufacturer for the job. The project required hex bolts, hex lag screws and long thread-each-end rods. Since the fasteners would be exposed to the outside elements, all parts had to be hot-dip galvanized. With our in-house hot-dip galvanizing line, Portland Bolt provides the highest quality of galvanizing on threaded fasteners. With the ability to control all of the manufacturing processes in-house, Portland Bolt was able to manufacture and ship the order in less than 2 weeks. Do you have a project that requires 100% domestic products in a quick timeframe? Call Portland Bolt! Our experienced sales team of estimators is standing by to assist you with your next project.