Pumpkin Hollow Road Bridge (1888)
Description
Bridge was actually located on a small section of Pumpkin Hollow Road in Great Barrington. A wooden pony truss of a bowstring nature was built in 1999 as a replacement. Apparently only the trusses were saved and after ten or more years in storage were purchased by a private party for reuse.Facts
- Overview
- Bridge over Green River on Pumpkin Hollow Road in Great Barrington.
- Location
- Great Barrington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts
- Status
- Replaced by a new bridge
- History
- Built 1888; replaced 1999
- Builder
- - Berlin Iron Bridge Co. of East Berlin, Connecticut
- Design
- Lenticular pony truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 58.1 ft.
Total length: 59.0 ft.
Deck width: 11.5 ft.
- Also called
- Hollenbeck Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +42.18786, -73.41319 (decimal degrees)
42°11'16" N, 73°24'47" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 18/631030/4671853 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Egremont
- Inventory number
- BH 61090 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- November 29, 2021: Updated by Chester Gehman: Modified description to reflect reuse.
- December 4, 2016: Updated by Chester Gehman: Added to description
- June 8, 2014: Updated by Chester Gehman: Modified description. Verified wood replacement.
- May 28, 2014: Added by Chester Gehman
Related Bridges
- Pumpkin Hollow Road Bridge (Successor)
Comments
Hopefully they will install a plaque that gives the history of the bridge.
Fascinating! Thanks for make the journey in 83 AND Today.
Glad to see this little bridge given a new, if unorthodox, use. It was 36 years ago that I first photographed it. Here are some photos from last Saturday.
Chet
Steve,
This article about the overall project makes note of the bridge in the article text, and also features a photo with the bridge prominent: https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/with-flying-church-re...
Any newspaper story on this bridge? Seems it is newsworthy.
I agree that a second life as a ramp is better than not existing at all. I also agree with the idea of a plaque about the origins of the bridge.
I do hope they install a plaque on it telling the history so that people will know that those "railings" are actually part of an historic bridge.
Given that there are a number of these rare and nationally significant historic lenticular pony truss bridges that are abandoned and NOT being reused (and are so overgrown you can't even photograph them except during winter), I think this adaptive reuse is an outstanding outcome compared to the many others that remain overgrown and inaccessible. And if someone wants to see one of these bridges restored and reused in a more traditional manner, that's great, start fundraising and work to save one of the other abandoned lenticular pony truss bridges, just like this group did.
It becoming a fancy railing beats the alternative of it not existing at all, so I'm in camp "good reuse" with bonus points for ingenuity.
It's too bad that at this point it's just a fancy looking railing, but at least it's something. Was it too far gone to serve as a span?
As much as I hate to see them narrowed, In this situation the floor beams were apparently scrapped. And I do have to admit it's one of the most creative reuses I have seen for an historic bridge!
Wow, this is a really cool reuse of a historic bridge!
Greatest wheelchair ramp ever!!
just installed the old bridge at 198 main street great barrington ma 01230.
Very good news. This is a rare type and should be out where it can be viewed and used.
07/21/18
i purchased the bridge-remains from the town and i am working with engineers to re-erect it as an ADA compliant walkway to a rebuilt church on main street. it is being stored at the dump, although people here don't like that word. it should be moved to its final location on main street where it can be visited before winter 2018.
Its a long time, but we can still be optimistic. We've had a Leneticular pony up here in VT has been in storage for 21 years now, but we are on schedule to have it reused on a pedestrian path within the next 3 years. Hope they can find a home for this one sooner!
Rumours are these trusses will be used somewhere-sometime but they have been at the Great Barrington Recycle Center for at least ten years--maybe more. These photos I took a couple of years ago.
Found the saved trusses of this bridge. Looks like they are at an old town dump:
Pretty new bridge but why on earth didn't they fix the old one?!?
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ma/berkshire/pumpkin-hollow-road/
This project is like a miniature version of the Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis, SD with its two large preserved bridges. Interesting. A little more sedate maybe.