It has been six months since Carbon County installed steel height restriction headache bars at the covered bridge in Lower Towamensing Township.

Unfortunately, the bars have not deterred some vehicles larger than the height from trying to travel through the historic bridge.On Thursday, Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the bar has continuously been struck by oversized vehicles and some of the hits tore one of the chains off that hold the bar."I don't know what else the county can do other than hire someone to sit there and enforce this and fine people," he said. "It continues to be an issue."He said he hopes the headache bars are doing their job and letting motorists know they are hitting something.Nothstein said he feels it is only a matter of time before some vehicle hits the bar, damages their vehicle but continues through the bridge and damages the structure despite all the precautions the county has taken and the thousands of dollars spent to preserve the bridge.In the past, a number of large vehicles damaged the bridge by continuing to drive after hitting a wooden height restriction bar, knocking the bar down and then going through the bridge, ripping off beams as they go.The bridge was closed from July through Nov. 10, 2014, so crews from Professional Construction Contractors Inc. of Bethlehem could replace the open-grid steel deck and sandblast and paint the bridge.The cost of the project, $304,000, was covered by Act 13 bridge improvement funds and Act 44 funds.Last year, the 155-year-old covered bridge was strengthened by the installation of steel height restriction headache bars.Structural Metal Fabricators of Palmerton constructed the bars at a cost of $13,637.