Lincoln Highway Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge

Photos 

Susquehanna.bridge

Taken from Wrightsville on the Old Lincoln Highway.

Photo taken by J.R. Manning

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Map 

Street Views 

Description 

The east end of the bridge is in the Columbia Historic District

Constructed of reinforced concrete, the 5,183-foot (1,580 m)-long bridge (7,374 feet including spans over land) has 27 river piers, 22 approach piers, a 38-foot (12 m)-wide roadway, and a 6-foot (1.8 m)-wide sidewalk. 100,000 cubic yards (76,000 m3) of concrete and 8 million pounds of steel reinforcing rods were used, and coffer dams were built to aid in construction. Each span consists of three separate concrete ribs connected at five points by horizontal concrete struts, with the longest span measuring 185 feet (56 m).

American Society of Civil Engineers noted that it is "a splendid example of the graceful multiple-span, reinforced-concrete arched form popular in early 20th Century highway bridges in the United States."

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When it was dedicated on Armistice Day, 1930, the Columbia- Wrightsville Bridge was the longest multiple-arch concrete bridge in the world. Twenty-eight three-ribbed open-spandrel reinforced concrete arches, each spanning 185'-0", carry the bridge across the Susquehanna between Lancaster and York counties. Another twenty spans make up the bridge's 6657'-0" total length. The span's construction was innovative because it involved the cooperative effort of two counties. Four bridges preceded this span at this historically important river crossing. The Columbia- Wrightsville Bridge was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1984, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

- Historic American Engineering Record

Facts 

Overview

Open-spandrel arch bridge over Susquehanna River on PA 462 (Old Lincoln Highway) between Columbia and York Counties

Location

Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and York County, Pennsylvania

Status

Open to traffic

History

Built 1929; rehabilitated 1988

Builders

- James B. Long (Designer)
- Wiley-Maxon Construction Co. of Dayton, Ohio

Design

Open-spandrel arch

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 185.0 ft.
Total length: 6,657.5 ft. (1.3 mi.)
Deck width: 38.1 ft.

Recognition

Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1988

Also called

Susquehanna River Bridge
Veterans Memorial Bridge
Lancaster-York Intercounty Bridge

Approximate latitude, longitude

+40.02833, -76.51833   (decimal degrees)
40°01'42" N, 76°31'06" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

18/370446/4432006 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Columbia West

Inventory numbers

NRHP 88000764 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
PA 36 0462 0010 0000 (Pennsylvania Bridge Management System number)
PANBI 21270 (Pennsylvania BRKEY bridge number on the 2011 NBI)
BH 31083 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection (as of 06/2009)

Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 80.5 (out of 100)

Average daily traffic (as of 2008)

14,693

Categories 

Update Log 

• January 13, 2017: New photo from Alexander D. Mitchell IV
• March 10, 2016: New Street View added by Luke
• July 15, 2015: New photos from Royce and Bobette Haley
• August 2, 2014: New photos from Patrick S. O'Donnell
• July 2, 2014: New photos from Alexander D. Mitchell IV
• April 4, 2012: New Street View added by Craig Philpott
• April 4, 2012: Updated by Jodi Christman: Added # of spans and more description details
• December 25, 2010: New photo from Jodi Christman
• December 23, 2010: New Street View added by Daniel Hopkins
• May 28, 2008: New photos from J.R. Manning
• April 11, 2008: New photos from J.R. Manning
• March 30, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning: Added Bridge to "Lincoln Highway" Category
• February 27, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning

Related Bridges 

• PRR - Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge (Predecessor)

Sources 

• J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
• HAER Database - HAER Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge page
• Lincoln Highway Association - The official website of the Lincoln Highway Association
• HAER PA-473 - Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, Spanning Susquehanna River at Lincoln Highway (State Route 462), Columbia, Lancaster County, PA
• Daniel Hopkins - chimera [at] clovermail [dot] net
• Jodi Christman - masterofchaos [at] outlook [dot] com
• Craig Philpott - craigphilpott63 [at] gmail [dot] com
• Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
• Bridgemapper.com - by Todd Wilson and Lauren Winkler
• Alexander D. Mitchell IV
• Patrick S. O'Donnell - 1 [dot] 991km [at] comcast [dot] net
• Royce and Bobette Haley - roycehaley111 [at] yahoo [dot] com
• Luke

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