Tracing the history of Tuscazoar’s newest landmark

By Dave Tschantz, Project Manager

The Zoarville Station Bridge was built in 1868 as one of three spans crossing the Tuscarawas River and Ohio-Erie Canal in Dover. The bridge was moved to its current site in Zoarville in 1905, was abandoned in the 1940s and was purchased by neighboring farmer Charles Lebold in 1969 for $50. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, the bridge was donated by Mr. Lebold to the Camp Tuscazoar Foundation in July of that year.
   The Zoarville Station Bridge is older than the majority of wooden covered bridges still standing in Ohio.  While it may not appear as quaint and picturesque as a covered bridge, from a historical point of view it is just as important and actually much rarer.
   The bridge was designed by renowned bridge designer Albert Fink and is the last Fink Through-Truss known to exist.  Fink was a civil engineer who is considered a pioneer in iron bridge design and who also supervised the construction of the first important iron bridges in the U.S. The style is termed a through truss because traffic travels through the structure rather than on top of it.  One other Fink truss of this type existed in New Jersey, but was demolished several decades ago.  Fink is important enough as a bridge designer that the Smithsonian Institution displayed a model of a Fink Deck Truss bridge for years. 
   The Zoarville Station Bridge is also the last bridge known to exist that was built by the Smith, Latrobe & Company (later the Baltimore Bridge Company), a firm headed by Charles Shaler Smith, an early noted bridge builder in the U.S. “Shaler"-as he was called-was credited with introducing the use of Phoenix Columns in railroad trestles.  He was considered the greatest American engineer of his day, responsible for an enormous amount of work, including bridges over the Mississippi, Missouri and Saint Lawrence rivers.  Shaler was most famous for his daring and innovative solutions to difficult engineering problems.

See “Tuscazoar’s newest”…Page 3

Tuscazoar’s newest landmark From Page 2    Lastly, this bridge is constructed of rare Phoenix Columns, formed by riveting sections of curved plates together at the flanges, and other pieces fabricated by the historic Phoenix Iron Works of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.    Because the bridge’s deteriorated condition, the Foundation immediately began dismantling and storing the bridge components. In 1998, rotted decking and unneeded steel were removed to lessen the weight on the structure and prevent collapse. Over the next seven years, the Foundation worked to raise funds for restoration and reconstruction, and to construct approach trails leading to the bridge.

The newly-restored Zoarville Station Bridge

   The first grant of funds came in February 1998 from the Stark-Tusc-Wayne Joint Solid Waste District for the purchase of recycled plastic lumber decking, followed by grants from the Ohio-Erie Canal Association and the Frease Foundation of Dover for construction and restoration. Then, in 1999, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) announced that they would award a grant to the project of federal funds provided by Congress under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. However, the TEA-21 grant only provided part of the money needed to dismantle the bridge and get it into storage, so additional non-federal funding had to be found. Then-State Senator Greg DiDonato responded by successfully obtaining a grant of $7,000 from the Ohio General Assembly through the state capital budget, the Rosenberry and Frease Foundations contributed additional grants, and the bridge was dismantled and placed in storage in New Philadelphia in September of 2000. Construction began on the approaches that same year. However, the cost of the approaches was not eligible for funding under the TEA-21 grant, so additional funds had to be raised solely for that portion of the project.
   After lengthy discussion, the Foundation chose not to raise the bridge, saving an estimated $300,000. Instead, extra efforts were made to coat the bridge against corrosion and to drill "weep-holes" on the bridge members to allow water to drain out of cavities in the structure as floodwaters receded. Flooding occurs as the Dover Reservoir rises, so almost no current will be present to undermine the bridge or cause debris to crash into the bridge. The old, unrestored bridge survived countless floods in its Zoarville location, including the record 1969 reservoir level.

They determined that the metal was unusually high in phosphorus, and that a welding rod used on offshore oil rigs would work best. With the receipt of additional funds from an Ohio Department of Natural Resources Clean Ohio recreational trails grant, restoration began in 2005. The trails grant was possible because this bridge will carry four different hiking trails and permit Camp Tuscazoar visitors to access the Ohio-Erie Canal Corridor. Various hiking groups such as the Ohio-to-Erie Trail Fund and the Buckeye Trail Association contributed needed matching funds to this project.
   Once restoration was completed, reconstruction began in 2007 by Sheldon Gantt of Niles, Ohio, the same firm that dismantled the bridge. The bridge was partially rebuilt on a frame of I-beams next to its final location, and then lifted into place as a unit with a 500 ton crane in July of 2007, under the guidance of ironworkers from Local 550 in Canton, several of whom are from the Zoarville Area and remember playing on the bridge as kids! The decking and railings were then installed, and the bridge was finally completed on August 31, 2007.