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East Street Bridge

Wood County, West Virginia
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Photos 

View Northeast, Southwest Side

Photo taken by Norse Angus, June 1992, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

Map 

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.
- Ralph Modjeski of Bochnia, Poland (Designer)
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)
USGS topographic map
Parkersburg
Inventory number
BH 43942 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 12/1991)
Deck condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 0.0 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 1989)
16,000

Categories 

Arch Lattice Railing (19)
Built 1907 (400)
Built during 1900s (4,424)
Floating (16)
Interurban (172)
Lost (11,123)
Lost 1996 (375)
Lost during 1990s (3,247)
McClintic-Marshall Co. (26)
Monongahela-West Penn Public Service Co. (1)
Owned by state (10,151)
Parkersburg, West Virginia (13)
Pennsylvania truss (313)
Pratt through truss (3,292)
 Pratt truss (5,855)
Rail-and-Road (38)
Rail-to-road (121)
Railroad (5,583)
Ralph Modjeski (27)
Replaced by new bridge (7,613)
Span length 250-500 feet (895)
Structurally deficient (16,931)
Sufficiency rating zero (314)
Through truss (9,585)
Total length 500-1000 feet (1,884)
Truss (24,149)
West Virginia (1,051)
Wood County, West Virginia (28)

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

Related Bridges 

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 Harden - lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com
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Comments 

East Street Bridge
Posted August 1, 2013, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

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.

East Street Bridge
Posted January 27, 2010, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Glad to see this bridge on the site - I was planning to add it sometime. Interestingly, this bridge was replaced by a modern truss instead of a UCEB.