Tim Harvey uses an excavator to build a pier of quarried stones alongside the Yon-Peralto Memorial Bridge in Bramwell. The pier will be used for the demolition and rebuilding of the bridge.
BRAMWELL, W.Va. — A Mercer County town noted for its historic structures is becoming a busy place as work to replace two memorial bridges gets underway.
Backhoes and trucks were running in the town of Bramwell as workers prepared to replace the Yon-Peraldo Memorial Bridge and the Durhing Street Pony Truss Bridge, also known as the Kate Hewitt Memorial Bridge. Both single-lane spans go over the Bluestone River.
The Yon-Peraldo bridge commemorates two men who built many of the handmade stone walls seen in the town, Mayor Louise Stoker said. Some of their work can be seen in the two bridges slated for replacement.
The Duhring Pony Truss Bridge commemorates Kate Hewitt, who lived in a stone house near it when it was constructed in 1914.
“She was the widow of one of the operators of the Buckeye Coal & Coke Company,” Stoker said.
Plans call for replacing both the bridges at the same time, Stoker said. Both will look like the originals as much as possible…