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Berne Bridge

Berks County, Pennsylvania
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Photos 

Berne Bridge -- August 23, 2009

Downriver overview

Photo taken by Raymond Klein

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Map 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over Schuylkill River on TR 952 (Fisher Dam Road) near Bern (Tilden Twp)
Location
Berks County, Pennsylvania
Status
Replaced by new bridge (scrapped)
Future prospects
Was available for relocation and reuse. Demolished May 2014.
History
Built 1896; rehabilitated 1959; Demolished 2014
Builder
- Pittsburgh Bridge Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Design
Pin-connected Pennsylvania through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 204.1 ft.
Total length: 206.0 ft.
Deck width: 18.7 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 16.8 ft.
Also called
Berne Station Bridge (Per builders plate on bridge)
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.52222, -75.99786   (decimal degrees)
40°31'20" N, 75°59'52" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/415474/4486199 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Hamburg
Inventory numbers
PA 06 7230 0952 9611 (Pennsylvania Bridge Management System number)
PANBI 05428 (Pennsylvania BRKEY bridge number on the 2011 NBI)
BH 30387 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 08/2007)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 13.4 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 1993)
884

Categories 

19th Century (4,356)
Berks County, Pennsylvania (69)
Built 1896 (154)
Built during 1890s (1,697)
Doomed (963)
Lost (12,117)
Lost 2014 (37)
Lost during 2010s (948)
Owned by county (16,974)
Pennsylvania (3,301)
 Pennsylvania truss (340)
Pin-connected (1,784)
Pittsburgh Bridge Co. (23)
Schuylkill River (64)
Span length 175-250 feet (1,562)
Structurally deficient (17,117)
Through truss (10,377)
Total length 175-250 feet (3,018)
Truss (25,162)

Update Log 

  • May 16, 2014: Updated by Jodi Christman: Updated status
  • June 10, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added builder
  • June 10, 2013: Updated by Nathan Holth: Updated planned demolition date.
  • November 28, 2011: Updated by Nathan Holth: Updated planned demolition date.
  • November 22, 2010: Updated by Nathan Holth: Bridge is available for reuse.
  • September 17, 2010: New photos from Jodi Christman
  • August 26, 2009: Updated by Raymond Klein: Added Berne Station Bridge as Alternate name per builders plate on bridge.
  • August 24, 2009: New photo from Raymond Klein

Sources 

  • Raymond Klein - Bookshelfthe [at] msn [dot] com
  • Jodi Christman - masterofchaos [at] outlook [dot] com
  • Nathan Holth
  • Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
  • Luke
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Comments 

Berne Bridge
Posted July 24, 2014, by george oakley (georgeoakley49 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

thanks robert for the response.as of the present i do not know what this bridge will be replaced with either concrete or steel.if i was a betting man i would probably say concrete.if i do hear or know of anything in the future i will let you know.it is a shame this bridge is gone from what i have seen in the paper.

Berne Bridge
Posted May 16, 2014, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Thanks for letting us know. Sad news, but at least we can update the website.

Berne Bridge
Posted May 16, 2014, by george oakley (reading)

being that I live near this bridge and read the reading eagle newspaper I hate to tell everyone that the berne bridge as of this date is no more.i did see a picture in the local newspaper which showed only the structure.in other words kiss this bridge goodbye forever.

Berne Bridge
Posted April 28, 2014, by ArtS (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)

I guess no one that was in a position to take it wanted it:

http://readingeagle.com/news/article/replacement-work-starting-at-berne-station-bridge-which-links-tilden-and-perry-townships

Demolition in progress.