Bridge Out

The bridge over Rausch Creek on the Appalachian Trail has been closed.

A 154-year-old bridge on the Appalachian Trail in northern Lebanon County has been closed after a partial collapse of its foundation.

The Rausch Gap Bridge was closed by the state Game Commission after recent flooding damaged the bridge. The stone-arch bridge was built in 1854 and once carried the Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad across the creek. The roadbed is now a 19-mile-long rail-trail that traverses State Game lands 211, known locally as St. Anthony’s Wilderness, from east to west.[...]

She said the Appalachian Trail Conservancy has been made aware of the bridge’s closing.

“We’re going to be trying to work with them to establish a detour,” Trewella said.

Although the closure will present an inconvenience, hikers determined to get across the creek, which is a tributary of Stony Creek, shouldn’t have a problem.