Thieves Steal Entire Bridge

In what must rank as one of the more audacious robberies of recent times, state police in North Beaver Township, Pennsylvania have revealed thieves stole a 50-foot steel bridge. Yes, all of it.

In a report filed Wednesday, local trooper Darren Vizyak wrote that the bridge was nicked at some point between September 27th and October 5th. He added that the structure was made out of corrugated steel, and had a scrap metal value of approximately $100,000.

The 20-foot wide bridge was located in woods that ran alongside a railroad line, about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh. It’s thought the thieves used a cutting torch to dismantle the bridge, before taking it away piece by piece.

Police reported the owner of the bridge as New Castle Development. A message left for the company by authorities was not returned.

As you can probably tell from a town where a missing bridge goes unnoticed for eight days, North Beaver Township isn’t the most heavily populated of areas – the last count in 2000 showed 4,022 people spread over 43 square miles.

Locals could no longer be reached for comment.

Incidentally, this is not the first instance of crime against bridges. In 2008, an innocent 200-ton structure was stolen by Russian thieves, but that was ‘only’ 38 feet long.