Rating:
43942
{95}%
1 vote
East Street Bridge
Description
According to the HAER report, this bridge was privately built in 1907 to carry streetcars, although as time went on, it was converted to carry automobile traffic. The bridge also carried tracks for much of its life. In 1935, the State of West Virginia purchased the bridge from the private owners, including a contract with the Monongahela West Penn Public Service Company that paid $1,800.00 per year for use of the tracks.
Facts
- Overview
- Lost Through truss bridge over Little Kanawha River on West Virginia 14A (Alternate 14)
- Location
- Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia
- Status
- Replaced by new bridge
- History
- Built 1907; New Decking 1935; Rehab 1951; Replaced 1996
- Builders
- - McClintic-Marshall Co. of Chicago, Illinois & Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Ralph Modjeski of Bochnia, Poland (Designer)
- Railroads
- - Interurban
- Monongahela-West Penn Public Service Co. (MWP; MWPPS)
- Design
- Mixed Pratt and Pensylvania through trusses with steel girder approach spans
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 298.0 ft.
Total length: 813.7 ft.
Deck width: 27.0 ft.
- Also called
- The Singing Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.25833, -81.54667 (decimal degrees)
39°15'30" N, 81°32'48" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
- Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/452835/4345587 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Parkersburg
- Inventory number
- BH 43942 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- August 1, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added builder
- April 12, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Added Arch Lattice Railing to Categories.
- January 27, 2010: Added by J.R. Manning
Sources
- J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
- HAER WV-44 - East Street Bridge, Spanning Kanawha River at WV Alternate Route 14, Parkersburg, Wood County, WV
- Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Luke
One of the last conversations I ever had in person with my Grandfather, was about the history of this bridge. He was born in 1906, just before the bridge opened, and he passed away in 1996, which was the year it was replaced.
He remembered the streetcars using this bridge when he was a young man, and he also told me about the original wooden deck being replaced with metal grates.
My Grandfather informed me that the new bridge, which had not yet been completed, would use the original pylons from the old bridge. The new bridge does not use trusses for the approach spans, but the main span is a modern polygonal Warren through truss. While it does not have history or some of the intricate details of the old span, it is nice looking bridge.