Remnants of 200-year-old bridge and long lost town revealed after lake dries up in state suffering historic drought

Weeks of drought successful occidental Pennsylvania have caused stream levels to descend truthful debased that the historical Great Crossing Bridge has resurfaced for the archetypal clip successful decades.

The 200-year-old bridge, an 1818 operation of chopped sandstone, typically lies 50 feet beneath the aboveground of the Youghiogheny River Lake.

But the lake, which has an mean h2o elevation of 1,439 feet supra oversea level, was astatine 1,378 feet connected October 18 and had dropped by an further 4 feet arsenic of Friday.  

The Great Crossing Bridge was built to connect Fayette and Somerset counties, which person been affected by weeks of drought. 

This is the archetypal clip the 3 arches of the span person been disposable since 1998 and lone a fewer times successful the past 80 years has the operation been visible and traversable. 

The uncommon lawsuit caused excitement successful the country arsenic radical drove from miles distant to locomotion crossed the historical operation for a erstwhile successful a beingness experience. 

Officials are predicting h2o levels volition retrieve successful the adjacent fewer weeks arsenic wintertime typically brings large snowfall and dense rainfall to the area.

October was an exceptionally adust period crossed the Northeast US.

Parts of immoderate states - including Pennsylvania - acceptable records for longest consecutive fig of days without measurable precipitation, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center. 

Philadelphia precocious broke its 150-year grounds for the astir adust days successful a row, marking it s 29th-straight time connected October 28.

Vince Klinkner, the resources manager astatine Youghiogheny River Lake, told WTAE: 'I spot astatine slightest 7 antithetic articles, showing wherever the span has been retired and benignant of doing the aforesaid communicative that we're doing present today. 

'Ranging from the aboriginal '70s up until now.'

But the stream water is not astatine its grounds lowest h2o level. In fact, it's 'not adjacent adjacent to a apical 3 astatine this point,' helium continued to explain.

Hundreds of visitors flocked to the Youghiogheny stream water to witnesser this uncommon spectacle, CBS News Pittsburgh reported. 

One specified visitant was Gerald O'Brien, who biked to the tract from Uniontown to spot it.

'This is precise unique,' O'Brien told CBS. 

'You expect to spot this successful Europe and that, but to spot this successful our ain country, to spot the structure, it's amazing,' helium added. 

Others hoping to witnesser this portion of past should get determination quickly. Once h2o levels instrumentality to normal, there's nary mode to cognize erstwhile the span volition beryllium disposable again.

Karen Wolfe told TribLive: 'This is amazing. It's astir apt 15 years that we've been coming up present boating, and we've ne'er seen it similar this.'

Jack Kemp and his wife, Gail, besides took a travel to the span from their location successful Hopwood, connected the outskirts of Uniontown.

'It utilized to beryllium you conscionable saw the apical portion of it,' helium said. 'Now you tin spot it all.

'We've ne'er walked down present before. We've conscionable seen it going crossed the (modern) bridge. I've ne'er seen the h2o this low.'

The US Army Corps of Engineers expects the h2o level to instrumentality to mean levels erstwhile autumn rainfall and wintertime snowfall begin.

But successful the meantime, the resurfaced span offers a uncommon glimpse of Pennsylvania's history.

The bridge's sanction comes from George Washington's notation to the country during definite marches on Braddock's Toad, Jacob Miller, a curator with the Historical Society of Somerset County, told CBS News Pittsburgh. 

'And earlier that, that was known arsenic the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny River,' Miller said. 

Somerfield - a colony successful Somerset County - was settled successful 1818 arsenic 'Smythfield.' It was named for the town's founder, Phillip D. Smyth.

That aforesaid year, the Great Crossings Bridge was built arsenic portion of the National Road, which connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was the archetypal road built wholly with national funds, CBS News Pittsburgh reported. 

When the span was completed, it was christened by President James Monroe and his full cabinet, the CBS study added. 

In 1830, the municipality applied for a station bureau and discovered that determination was already different municipality called Smythfield successful the commonwealth, truthful it was renamed Somerfield successful grant of a section curate of that name, according to Mountain Discoveries Magazine.

By the 1930s, Somerfield and different neighboring towns saw a important downturn successful prosperity. 

Thus, a determination was made to physique a adjacent dam and flood the tiny vale successful bid to mitigate flooding successful the region. 

The 184-foot high, 1,604-foot wide Youghiogheny Dam was built successful 1944. As a result, Somerfield - and the Great Crossings Bridge - sank beneath the rising waters and was mislaid to history. 

But occasionally, the span and different remnants of the mislaid municipality resurface, offering radical a accidental to sojourn a fascinating portion of Pennsylvania's past.