Armstrong County bridge preservation could be delayed by federally-protected bird
One of the fastest animals on Earth may be causing a delay.
A federally protected peregrine falcon could delay a $9-million Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project in Armstrong County.
The bird has nested with at least one chick under the west Kittanning side of Graff Bridge, which has been reduced to one lane since April 2025 while undergoing a preservation project.
Since the falcon is federally protected and cannot be moved, crews have had to work around it, according to Tina Gibbs, PennDOT community relations coordinator.
“This is a species that was at one time on the endangered species list, and it’s making a remarkable comeback,” said Chris Kubiak, education director of at the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Kubiak has studied birds for more than 30 years and has seen peregrine falcons in Moraine State Park, Pittsburgh and throughout Western Pennsylvania.
The peregrine falcon is protected federally by the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 and in Pennsylvania by the Game and Wildlife Code and Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
The falcon has not delayed the project, which is scheduled to conclude in the fall 2027, since crews have been able to focus on construction elsewhere.
Gibbs said the falcon’s nesting season lasts until the end of July, so PennDOT plans to continue monitoring the nest through then. However, Gibbs said the area the peregrine falcon is in is not publicly accessible.
The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world, Kubiak said. They can reach speeds of up to 200 mph when performing their terminal dive. For reference, a cheetah’s top speed is around 76 mph, Kubiak said.
The falcons are light underneath. The males have a steel blue-gray color and the females are similar but not as bright. Kubiak said since they’re daytime hunters, they also have black marks under their eyes that serve the same purpose as under eye black for an athlete.
The falcons live between 10 and 15 years and primarily prey upon other birds — especially pigeons, Kubiak said. They also like to nest on rock cliffs and faces, which Kubiak said is likely why it chose the bridge. He guessed this one would be a younger bird.
“They’ve been on a similar trajectory as bald eagles and other birds of prey,” Kubiak said about the falcons. “A lot of these birds are indicator species.”
Kubiak explained that in old coal mines, miners would send in canaries to look for pockets of methane gas, which would kill them alerting the workers to danger. If undiscovered, the methane gas would have eventually killed the humans in the mines. He said birds have a similar function in our environment. When they start disappearing, it means something is wrong.
When their populations began falling, what was wrong was DDT, a chemical pesticide that became popular after World War II, Kubiak said. It was considered a “miracle pesticide” because it didn’t kill humans or pets but decimated populations of insects.
That led to it being used in agriculture to kill mosquitoes, and even to kill lice in children’s hair, Kubiak said.
The danger the chemical posed to birds didn’t show until it began to build up in the birds’ bodies from eating infected prey.
Scientists later discovered the chemical was a calcium-depleter, which caused eggs to crack after being laid. By 1961, peregrine falcons were no longer nesting in the Eastern United States, according to the state Game Commission. They recovered and were taken off the state’s threatened and endangered species list in 2021.
“You have opportunities to see them moving through,” Kubiak said. “There’s a couple places in Butler where they’re bred. Get out there and you’d be surprised how many species of bird we have here in Western Pennsylvania.”
The Graff Bridge carries Route 422 over the Allegheny River and Armstrong Trail in North Buffalo and Manor townships. The project also includes deck replacement and rehabilitation for the Infantry Bridge, which carries Route 66 over Garretts Run Road and Route 422; and deck replacement for the exit 66 south Ford City ramp from Route 422 east to Route 66 south.
