Rating:
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GAP - Bollman Bridge

Somerset County, Pennsylvania

Photos 

View Of Bridge From South Looking Northeast

Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #155552

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Iron through truss bridge formerly carrying the B&O Railroad
Location
Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Status
Open to pedestrians only
History
Built 1871 on the B&O Railroad; relocated 1910 as a vehicular bridge
Builders
- Patapsco Bridge & Iron Works
- Wendel Bollman of Baltimore, Maryland
Design
Cast- and wrought-iron pin-connected Warren through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 78.1 ft.
Total length: 81.0 ft.
Deck width: 13.1 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places
Also called
GAP - Wills Creek Bollman Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+39.81823, -78.99468   (decimal degrees)
39°49'06" N, 78°59'41" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
17/671632/4409506 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Wittenberg
Inventory numbers
PA 55 7224 0381 6001 (Pennsylvania Bridge Management System number)
BH 44175 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (8,660)
Bridgemapper.com (1,325)
Built 1871 (133)
Built during 1870s (1,328)
Cast iron (76)
Great Allegheny Passage (24)
HAER documented (1,124)
NR-listed (3,015)
Open to pedestrians (4,599)
Owned by railroad (13,567)
Patapsco Bridge & Iron Works (2)
Pennsylvania (6,179)
Phoenix Columns (89)
 Pin-connected (4,876)
Rail-to-trail (1,660)
Relocated (1,043)
Somerset County, Pennsylvania (130)
Span length 75-100 feet (6,676)
Structurally deficient (12,818)
Through truss (17,226)
Total length 75-100 feet (6,857)
Truss (35,981)
Warren through truss (1,710)
Warren truss (7,044)
Wendel Bollman (26)
Wrought Iron (421)

Update Log 

  • October 7, 2020: New photos from Patrick Gurwell
  • September 29, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Bridge was relocated in 2006 and is open to pedestriangs as part of the Great Allegheny Passage trail
  • December 16, 2011: Updated by Frank Hicks: Added GPS coordinates
  • February 19, 2010: Added by James Baughn

Related Bridges 

Sources 

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Comments 

GAP - Bollman Bridge
Posted December 19, 2015, by Barry (bllauver [at] toad [dot] net)

Wills Creek covers a lot of territory, all the way to the Potomac River at Cumberland MD. Does anyone know precisely where the bridge was located when it was part of the B&O?

GAP - Bollman Bridge
Posted December 19, 2015, by ArtS (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)

Write-up on this bridge:

http://datab.us/i/Wells%20Creek%20Bollman%20Bridge