Rating:
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Witherspoon Bridge

Washington County, Pennsylvania

Photos 

Photo taken by Janis Ford October 2007

BH Photo #131831

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over Raccoon Creek on Raccoon Creek Road (TR 861)
Location
Washington County, Pennsylvania
Status
Currently closed to traffic
History
Built 1894
Builder
- Nelson & Buchanan Co. of Chambersburg & Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Design
Pin-connected, 6-panel Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Span length: 97.1 ft.
Total length: 97.1 ft.
Deck width: 14.0 ft.
Recognition
Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.45363, -80.36624   (decimal degrees)
40°27'13" N, 80°21'58" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
17/553737/4478300 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Clinton
Average daily traffic (as of 1990)
30
Inventory numbers
PA 62 7212 0861 4005 (Pennsylvania Bridge Management System number)
PANBI 35296 (Pennsylvania BRKEY bridge number on the 2011 NBI)
BH 31794 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of July 2017)
Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 17.8 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

19th Century (7,566)
6-panel truss (645)
Bridgemapper.com (1,325)
Built 1894 (240)
Built during 1890s (2,984)
Closed (2,665)
NR-eligible (4,051)
Nelson & Buchanan Co. (26)
One-lane traffic (7,606)
Owned by county (20,783)
 Pennsylvania (5,318)
Pin-connected (3,901)
Pratt through truss (5,389)
Pratt truss (9,296)
Span length 75-100 feet (6,428)
Structurally deficient (14,203)
Through truss (15,060)
Total length 75-100 feet (6,584)
Truss (32,782)
Washington County, Pennsylvania (175)

Update Log 

  • February 14, 2017: New photos from Sherman Cahal
  • November 11, 2015: New photos from Bill Eichelberger
  • June 14, 2015: Updated by Tony Dillon: Added builders
  • August 26, 2011: Updated by Tony Dillon: Bridge is closed
  • August 22, 2009: New photos from Brian McKee

Sources 

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Comments 

Witherspoon Bridge
Posted June 14, 2015, by Richard Zitrick (richard [dot] zitrick [at] comcast [dot] net)

Pictures posted

Witherspoon Bridge
Posted June 14, 2015, by Richard Zitrick (richard [dot] zitrick [at] comcast [dot] net)

Back in 2013, we were informed by a park ranger at nearby Raccoon Creek State Park that this bridge sits smack in the middle of a gigantic Great Blue Heron rookery. For several weeks in the March-April time frame, thousands of herons descent on this place to have their children. He said the fact that people driving over this bridge would disturb the birds (rookeries of this size are very rare) was one of the main reasons that the bridge was closed. For what it's worth, when I walked over it in 2013, the deck was in much better condition than that shown in earlier pictures.