BOALSBURG — The footbridge along Boalsburg Pike has been trodden over by man and nature in its decades-long existence. On June 12 and 13, it got a long-awaited makeover by the Lions Club of Harris Township.
The modern footbridge’s builder, Gert Aron, said 50 years ago it was only three hemlock logs with a few boards over the creek. In 1975, Aron thought the boards looked worn down, so he asked the township if two of his engineering students at Penn State could design a new one.
“Use some imagination and put some beauty in it,” the 90-year-old former professor recalled telling them. While teaching civil engineering at Penn State, Aron focused on hydrology, the study of water’s movement in relation to land.
The new bridge lasted 20 years, until a flood in 1995 pushed it and its foundation over. Once the National Guard had finished dragging the mess away, Aron said he got back to work rebuilding it.
“It seems like every 20 years we have to fix this bridge,” he joked.
The second time the bridge was rebuilt, Gary McClintic asked Aron what he was doing.
“I got the best help I could’ve gotten,” Aron said about McClintic, who came down from the hill above the creek and began helping him redo it.
“(The bridge) held up well for 20 years. We’ll probably get another 20 out of it,” McClintic said.
The Pennsylvania Military Museum, which owns the land the bridge resides on, helped the Lions Club by supplying material such as the stain. Site administrator Tyler Gum said the museum wanted to help make the restoration happen to keep it looking good for the community around the museum’s property.
Aron drove to the bridge the morning of June 12 to help the group paint it. He said if he were a younger man, he’d be doing more. His degree in structures helped him do as much as he did every 20 years for the past 40, but as the weather changes, so will the bridge. It’s held up structurally for the last 20, but a paint job every two decades never hurts.
McClintic said the bridge gets frequent use, and Harris Township Lions Club president Harvey Manbeck agreed.
“My wife and I use it a lot,” said Manbeck. “Everyone does.”
