Bridge dedicated to Slippery Rock veterans
WORTH TWP — As an engineer, Laura Goossen knows a good bridge needs to be built with strength, longevity and stability in mind.
Goossen likened the core construction concept of bridges to the needs of a military unit, which also needs members who exemplify strength, longevity and stability.
The military veteran said she was proud to see Bridge No. 7890, which takes commuters on New Castle Road over Interstate 79, be renamed as the “Veterans of Slippery Rock Bridge” on Veterans Day, about one year after the project was started by Slippery Rock Area Middle School students.
“Many individuals, organizations and communities worked together to achieve this goal,” said Goossen, an alumna of Slippery Rock Area High School and West Point. “We wanted a name that honors veterans past, present and future. The Veterans of Slippery Rock Bridge holds a special place in my heart, because of my family’s history.”
Goossen said Robert Book, a social studies teacher at the middle school, had asked her last Veterans Day how the school could have a bridge renamed to honor veterans of the area. Book and Goossen contacted state legislators to begin the process, and upon learning that the bridge would need a proposed name first, Book had students in grades five through 12 submit possibilities.
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