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Lower Bridge, Bondsville

Hampshire County, Massachusetts

Photo 

Lower Bridge, Bondsville

Photo from MACRIS Database

View this photo at mhc-macris.net

BH Photo #472600

Map 

Description 

"Second oldest of the 22 known Pratt pony truss bridges in the MDPW database. Although the original deck and stringers have been replaced, and a pair of steel I-beams on two H-column bents not does most, if not all, of the structural work, the original trusses, floorbeams, and lower lateral system appear largely intact. Structurally, the original bridge is unusual in a number of respects: the floorbeams are skewed 12 degrees from perpendicular to the trusses; the patented Wrought Iron bridge Co. verticals are used (the only other known examples in the database appear in N-16-3); the hip verticals combine a latticed WIBCo vertical and a looped road floorbeam hanger which passes over the upper chord pin (there is no lower chord pin, or connection, here); and, odd iron castings are used to maintain the alignment of the lower chord eyebars as they pass through the WIBCo verticals at the hips. In a pleasant, if unkempt, landscape setting, and historically part of an industrial community above it." -S.J. Roper, 5/11/1989

N-16-3 bridge referenced: http://bridgehunter.com/ma/bristol/cushman-road/

Facts 

Overview
Pratt Pony Truss bridge over Swift River on River Street in Belchertown
Location
Belchertown, Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Status
Replaced by a new bridge
History
Built 1880; lost 2005
Builder
- Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio
Design
Pratt pony truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 77.0 ft.
Total length: 79.1 ft.
Deck width: 17.0 ft.
Skew angle
12 degrees
Also called
Swift River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.21079, -72.34646   (decimal degrees)
42°12'39" N, 72°20'47" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/719040/4676590 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Palmer
Inventory numbers
MA B05002 (Massachusetts bridge number)
BH 19336 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (8,772)
Adaptive Use Bridge Project (8)
Amherst, Massachusetts (12)
Belchertown, Massachusetts (2)
Built 1880 (201)
Built during 1880s (2,235)
Hampshire County, Massachusetts (69)
Lost (29,301)
Lost 2005 (458)
Lost during 2000s (4,423)
Massachusetts (1,207)
Palmer, Massachusetts (7)
 Pin-connected (4,917)
Pony truss (17,101)
Pratt pony truss (3,992)
Pratt truss (10,429)
Replaced by new bridge (19,899)
Skewed (5,025)
Span length 75-100 feet (6,689)
Total length 75-100 feet (6,871)
Truss (36,136)
University of Massachusetts-Amherst (8)
Wrought Iron (422)
Wrought Iron Bridge Co. (449)

Update Log 

  • May 22, 2020: Photo imported by Ian Martin
  • May 20, 2017: Updated by Chester Gehman: Bridge replaced

Sources 

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