Mayflies force bridge closing

KITTANNING - For the second time in two weeks, mayflies swarmed the Kittanning Bridge, forcing emergency personnel to close the span.

Fire crews from Kittanning Hose Co. 1, Applewold and Rayburn Township closed the bridge just before 10 p.m. Monday after spotting the inch-long winged creatures swarming around the street lights and traffic signals.

Kittanning Hose Co. 1 Fire Chief Gene Stephens said Monday night, "We shut the bridge down before we had any accidents. Earlier this month, we had three motorcyclists go down as a result of the mayflies."

Stephens said the earlier mayfly invasion left the bridge and nearby buildings covered in nearly a foot of mayflies, both living and dead.

"They only live about a day," he said of the annual invasion. "They hatch out of the shallow waters under the bridge and lay their eggs and then die."

Crews from Kittanning Borough and PennDOT were also called to assist with cleaning the mayfly carcasses off the bridge.

"This time wasn't as bad," Stephens said. "This was very light compared to what it looked like last time."

Onlookers also reported seeing mayfly swarms Monday night along the Ford City Bridge and the Allegheny Power station at Reesdale, Stephens said.

The bridge was shut down for more than an hour Monday night as crews worked to clean the flies from the roadway.