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Cooper's Tubular Arch Bridge

Onondaga County, New York

Photos 

Elevation, Looking Southeast.

Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #213402

Map 

Street Views 

Facts 

Overview
Bowstring through truss bridge over the Erie Canal on a pedestrian walkway in Old Erie Canal State Park
Location
De Witt, Onondaga County, New York
Status
Open to pedestrians
History
Built in 1886 in Canajoharie, New York. Relocated to present location in 1975.
Builder
- Melvin A. Nash of Fort Edward, New York
Design
"Cooper's Tubular Arch Bridge was built in 1886 for the Town of Canajoharie, New York by Melvin A. Nash, a Fort Edward, New York bridge builder. It is the only extant example of superstructure fabricated on the 1873 patent of civil engineer William B. Cooper, then employed on the New York State Canals. In 1975, the bridge was acquired by the Central New York State Park and Recreation Commission and moved to the Old Erie Canal State Park in De Witt, where it now carries pedestrians and service vehicles across a restored portion of the original canal. ... His [Cooper's] design was one of a variety of trusses of the bowstring and tied arch forms widely used for small highway and street crossings during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. The configuration of its trusses places it in a direct line of descendance from the arched trusses of New York engineer and inventor Squire Whipple, whose design was used for many years as a canal standard.."
"Cooper's Tubular Arch Bridge consists of a pair of unbraced, cast- and wrought-iron bowstring trusses seated on reinforced concrete abutments faced with coarse ashlar limestone. The bridge's superstructure is 61'-9" in overall length with a clear span of approximately 59', measured between abutment faces at the seats. The deck is approximately 16' above the water and 9-1/2' above the single towpath that parallels the canal's north bank."
-- William P. Chamberlain, historian (1994), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER No. NY-291)
Dimensions
Total length: 62.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+43.04398, -76.03841   (decimal degrees)
43°02'38" N, 76°02'18" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/415420/4766222 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Syracuse East
Inventory number
BH 49564 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,288)
Bowstring through truss (265)
Bowstring truss (514)
Built 1886 (194)
Built during 1880s (1,942)
De Witt, New York (1)
Erie Canal (131)
Have street view (26,253)
Melvin A. Nash (1)
 New York (4,092)
Onondaga County, New York (72)
Open to pedestrians (4,025)
Owned by state (15,640)
Phoenix columns (72)
Preserved (1,154)
Through truss (14,685)
Total length 50-75 feet (9,128)
Truss (32,188)

Update Log 

  • May 26, 2020: New photos from Chester Gehman
  • March 31, 2020: New photos from Peter Dispensa
  • February 20, 2018: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
  • August 4, 2016: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
  • September 10, 2011: Added by James McCray

Sources 

  • James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • HAER NY-291 - Cooper's Tubular Arch Bridge, Spanning Old Erie Canal north of Linden Street, Fayetteville, Onondaga County, NY
  • Cooper's Tubular Arch Bridge - Pics and Info regarding bridge
  • Dana and Kay Klein
  • Chester Gehman - gehmanc2000 [at] yahoo [dot] com
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Comments 

Cooper's Tubular Arch Bridge
Posted May 1, 2015, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

That makes sense.

Cooper's Tublar Arch Bridge
Posted May 1, 2015, by Nathan Holth (webmaster [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

Yeah it just depends on what you consider a "Phoenix Column." But whatever definition you choose, the Independence bowstring is made of Phoenix's "Column segments" which are the patented rolled structural iron.

Cooper's Tubular Arch Bridge
Posted May 1, 2015, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Also, the Independence Bowstring Bridge in Kansas used Phoenix Columns for the main span and Keystone columns for the approach span.

http://bridgehunter.com/ks/montgomery/independence-bowstring...

Note that the Phoenix columns on the main span of the Independence Bowstring Bridge have flattened sections added to them. KSHS still considers them to be Phoenix columns, which makes good sense.

Cooper's Tublar Arch Bridge
Posted May 1, 2015, by Nathan Holth (webmaster [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

The Henszey bowstrings use rolled Phoenix or Phoenix style sections, but were not used to form a whole column.

http://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=pe...

Other than that off the top of my head the couple WIBC bowstrings that used Phoenix columns instead of the usual columns they used that are similar to Keystone columns.

Cooper's Tublar Arch Bridge
Posted May 1, 2015, by ArtS (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)

Nathan,

This design uses relatively short but straight Phoenix Column sections mimicking the cast sections of the original Whipple patent.

Wrought Iron Bridge Co. actually bent (or had Phoenix bend) the columns, with and without extra sections in the columns (round and non-round columns).

Are there other Phoenix Column bowstring designs out there?

Regards,

Art S.

Cooper's Tublar Arch Bridge
Posted April 30, 2015, by Nathan Holth (webmaster [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

They are labeled accordingly in the HAER drawings.

Cooper's Tublar Arch Bridge
Posted April 30, 2015, by Tony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Indeed they are ;-)

Cooper's Tublar Arch Bridge
Posted April 30, 2015, by ArtS (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)

Is the 'tubular arch' composed of Phoenix Columns?

Regards,

Art S.