Sense and Nonsense
By Peter A. Burke        
September 17, 1967
Submitted by Lorna Marks

Quite right! Soon, Pleasant Ridge Bridge, a covered span measuring 75 feet and 6 inches to the end posts and 17 feet wide will be Lawrence County's only bridge that will remain to serve the traffic over Indian Guyan Creek . . . or over any other creek in the County, if you want to get down to details.

Today there stands a 71 foot span over Pine Creek as it meanders onward to join the mighty Ohio. It has stood as a guardian of the Fox Hollow Road for many years. The oxen teams, the horse and buggy conveyances, and the pedestrians, who used the roadway across the wooden span during the old days when furnaces lighted up Hanging Rock, Pine Grove and their environs, down to the present most sophisticated times . . . welcomed the bridge during rain, wind and dust storms, and as a temporary haven from the searing rays of summer sun.

The wear and tear of heavy traffic, delivered by heavily laden trucks, has taken its toll. For a while Engineer Ralph HILL thought the bridge could be made travel-worthy, but a complete survey disclosed the fact that so much work and expense would be required to make it serve, so the effort was of necessity, abandoned.

Within a year the Fox Hollow covered bridge will be replaced by a modern construction that will be able to handle the heavy truck traffic as well as the tremendous increase in travel that will result from the Pine Creek Watershed project that is just getting under way.

A 20-foot wide roadway will cross Pine Creek at the point where the bridge now stands. It will be of the most modern design and in itself will be a very attractive span. With favorable weather the new bridge should be in service a year from now. The county engineer's office is completing plans and a contract will be awarded as soon as final approval is given.

Two-and-one-half miles of Big Branch Road, which is the busiest thoroughfare leading north, through shady hills and dales, is being widened by the county engineering force. The road will be a foot wider on each lane, taking the traveler from Chesapeake for the distance stated on the wider surface. Then, it drops off because there is not enough room on either side to permit a wider surface without tremendous cost and the necessity of moving many structures back a distance to make way for the widening. At any rate a series of other arteries join the Big Branch road carrying the traffic hither and yon to a number of subdivisions . . . Yet the widening of half the distance . . . or 2-1/2 miles . . . makes the travel much more convenient and quite a bit safer. Thanks are pouring in to the county engineering department from all the residents along the five miles of improvement. Engineer Ralph HILL says the project will be rushed to completion, and a mighty fine surface is assured for those wintry months that lie ahead.