White Bridge Road Bridge
Photos
An Old Pinned Pratt On Final Life Support
The supporting girders added are 36" tall. Bridge is old and beaten. Repairs made on old repairs need repairing themselves. It's a nice old bridge, but it's had a hard life and is in terrible condition.
Photo taken by Andrew Pearce in August 2012
Description
As of 1992: "The bridge, on a sharp curve that restricts visibility, carries one lane of a quite country road over a minor stream. It is located in a pastoral wooded setting with nearby open fields and farmland. A late-18th century farm is atop the hill overlooking the bridge. The remains of a wooden stringer culvert a few feet away mark the abandoned right of way of the railroad which paralleled the stream." "The skewed 5-panel half hip Pratt pin-connected pony truss bridge is supported on ashlar abutments. A concrete seat has been added to the east abutment. The clips connecting vertical members to the top chord is similar to 100W069. Modifications include outriggers welded to floorbeams and plates welded to panel points and end post. The span is too long for the crossing, suggesting it may have been moved to this location."As of 2012: I don't think this bridge is too long for the crossing; the creek doesn't have a lot of flood depth here, so seasonal high water levels will be wider instead of deeper. That being said, the bridge is also not too long for this world. It's dying and is scheduled to be replaced. This will make it the first old truss bridge purposely removed in the county in 20 years, since the Greyrock road bridge. Several others have been lost to flooding in the interim, and most of the rest of them are being kept in very good shape by the county. But this one is just too bashed, too rusted, and too weak. It will be sad, but it can't be many more months now until the end. It's one of our older bridges, but the end is nigh.
Facts
- Overview
- Truss bridge over Capoolong Creek on White Bridge Road
- Location
- Pittstown, Hunterdon County, New Jersey
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1886; rehabilitated 1999, Lost 2013
- Design
- Pratt pony truss with load-bearing girders added.
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 70.9 ft.
Total length: 71.9 ft.
Deck width: 13.8 ft.
- Skew angle
- 15 degrees
- Also called
- Capoolong Creek Bridge
White Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.58389, -74.94556 (decimal degrees)
40°35'02" N, 74°56'44" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 18/504607/4492567 (zone/easting/northing)
- USGS topographic map
- Pittstown
- Inventory numbers
- NJ 10XXF45 (New Jersey bridge number)
BH 50673 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection (as of 08/2011)
- Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 39.7 (out of 100) - Average daily traffic (as of 2011)
- 856
Update Log
- March 28, 2014: New photos from Andrew Pearce
- October 5, 2013: New photo from Andrew Pearce
- June 20, 2013: Updated by John Marvig: Bridge is lost
- August 30, 2012: Updated by Andrew Pearce: Added category "Pin-connected"
- December 27, 2011: Updated by Nathan Holth: Refined bridge type.
- December 22, 2011: Added by K. A. Erickson
Sources
- K. A. Erickson
- Locals decorate bridge one last time - Hunterdon County Democrat story
- New bridge planned over Capoolong Creek - Some details
- Nathan Holth
- Historic Bridges of Hunterdon County - 1992 County Survey document
- truss talks on site - new bridge is still under debate but scheduled for summer 2013
- John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
After a long and brutal winter, progress is again moving forward on the White Bridge Road bridge. The new trusses were installed 3 weeks ago on March 5.
The new bridge will be a modern Warren pony truss, but one that pays homage to the past by using laced sections and lots of rivets. And it will be white.
It might even be finished ahead of schedule. Newspaper article online at http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2014/03/photos_trusses_installed_for_w.html
The bridge was torn down in June. By mid August work was progressing on the abutments.
See pics and story here: http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2013/08/replacing_white_bridge_road_br.html
Today, the first week of October, progress seems very slim for two months more effort: a storm sewer outlet has gone in, and the casting forms for part of the abutments have been moved. That's about it.
The bridge was scrapped last week. It no longer exists.
There is also a place in Tennessee that Nels found that can do iron castings. We had also thought at one point to start collecting the iron scrap for that...at least if we have to lose a bridge there mighft be some benefit.
JULIE,
THANKS FOR THE INFO ON THE 8' LIMIT. THAT PLUS THE HIGH COST SEEMS TO MAKE USING "REAL WROUGHT IRON" NOT PRACTICAL FOR MOST PROJECTS. HOWEVER ONE SHOULD NOT SAY IT'S NOT AVAILABLE. LOTS OF THINGS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHEN ARC WELDING HISTORIC BRIDGES, BUT THAT'S ANOTHER DAY'S TOPIC.
We looked into the rolled wrought iron for cruciform but they only roll 8' lengths. Iron can be welded to steel or to itself with standard welding rod.
CHECK OUT the documentary showcasing construction techniques for iron bridge repai at YouTube under Workin' Bridges.
On another note, suggesting that every bridge try to get on the NRHP just to go through Section 106 seems wrong. Svery project is different and slowing down to bureaucrat speed is not always the answer and the bureaucrats know if they dont use federal dollars they dont have to go through review. Educating and construction estimates are. A good way to fight the battle. If it can make economic sense to repair restore then great.
http://www.realwroughtiron.com/home-12.html
DRILL INTO THIS SITE. SOME SIZES AVAILABLE. I LOOKED INTO PRICING (SOME YEARS AGO) AND AS I REMEMBER IT WAS $3 A POUND, BY THE TIME YOU IMPORTED IT TO THE U. S.
IT WOULD BE MORE TO GET INTO THE SPECIAL ROLLING.
Oh. Okay. I am aware of dozens of places to get rolled steel stock. I have never seen wrought iron stock for sale, so I presumed acquiring wrought iron for making repairs would be more difficult. So much for my logic. *smiles*
Wrought iron is not any more difficult to restore than steel. Check out the Lansing Community College Iron and Steel Preservation Conference for details. www.historicbridgerestoration.com
Built in 1886 - that would make it likely it's wrought iron, right? Restoring it correctly could be more difficult - but also that would make it more valuable.
Nathan it's in awful shape. The county has done wonders keeping their bridges in top condition, and they build new trusses and even fake ones when an old bridge has to go, but this one is really sub-par. It is one of the lightest gauge bridges I've seen in the county, even among the dozen or more 1890-1905 survivors that we have.
I was not happy to learn about this bridge's impending doom. I visited this county a few years ago and photographed many of the bridges. I missed this bridge because of its load-bearing girders it isn't listed as a truss. Hunterdon County used to be noted for the preservation of its bridges. There does not appear to be anything wrong with this bridge.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/nj/hunterdon/white/