Raven Rock Rosemont Road Bridge

Hunterdon County Division of Roads, Bridges and Engineering won a preservation award for the restoration of this bridge and Stanton Station Road Bridge (the fraternal twin of the Paoli, IN bridge just mashed by a truck):

http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2015/0...

Article about the recent award:

http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2015/0...

They held the opening ceremony last friday. I had hoped to attend but work and health kept me away:

http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2014/1...

Grand opening celebration this Friday:

http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2014/1...

Now open!

http://www.thehcnews.com/breaking/de-twp-bridge-open/

Nice write-up on the maker:

http://goodspeedhistories.com/the-lockatong-bridge-on-raven-...

Nathan, thanks for the clarification. When I visited, the asphalt had not been applied and there appeared to be a layer of concrete on top of the corrugated steel. I'm glad to know the truss is functional as I am not in good enough shape to look for myself.

BTW, its not the oldest Phoenix column bridge but maybe the oldest Phoenix column road bridge in its original location still open to traffic :^)

Regards,

Art S.

The article is incorrect in stating that this is the oldest Phoenix column bridge in the USA. Oldest examples date to the 1860s.

Not sure who posted the comments in the "Future Prospects" section, but I would like to make the following statements in response. Unless something was changed last minute, the deck of this bridge is corrugated steel with asphalt (HMA) wearing surface as specified in the final design plans. According to the rehabilitation plans for this bridge this bridge continues to function as a truss... and in fact old alterations were removed from the bridge like added knee braces. Back when I first began working with historic bridges, I would not have liked the added guiderail either. However, over a decade later, I have learned much and I now see the wisdom of doing so. Failing to protect a pin-connected truss bridge open to vehicular traffic on a public road with guiderail is counterproductive to preservation efforts, since due to trucks and drunk drivers, these bridges are otherwise at risk for damage or collapse via collision. Don't believe me? Check out this bridge: http://www.historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowse... and there are other bridges like the truss in PA that PennDOT destroyed by crashing a plow truck into it. I in fact personally expressed strong support to the county for the guiderail system chosen and installed on the Raven Rock Bridge as it represents the best case scenario. As a two tube rail system it looks a lot nicer than Armco (thrie beam) style railing. It also is mounted properly to the deck so that impacts are not transferred to the trusses where they can do damage... the guiderail protects the truss... it protects this beautiful and rare Phoenix column bridge, it protects the county's investment into preserving the bridge, and it protects the users of the bridge. Most importantly, the chosen method also retains the original railing behind the bridge. Thus historic integrity is maintained, and the alteration is reversible... meaning if the bridge were ever moved to a driveway or trail where collision was not a concern, the added guiderail could simply be removed. In the future it may be possible to engineer crash-tested railing with a lower visual impact, but at the time this was the best available option.

Nice article! Bridge should be open in a week or so. It now has a concrete deck.

http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2014/0...

Bridge is standing over the creek once again. Road not yet open.

Found this article describing the preservation of the land surrounding the bridge:

http://www.delawaretownshipnj.org/2006/01/further-land-prese...

In Nj land is pricy; I wouldn't be surprised if the land was more than the $3.2M spent on ther bridge restoration! Now, as far as I can tell, both the bridge and it's setting are preerved.

Regards,

Art S.

Here are some nice snow shots of the bridge from shortly before it's restoration:

http://federaltwist.com/a-hike-in-the-snow/

The truss components returned to the site on May 29th for assembly, with anticipated completion date of June 21.

Apparently, additional damage was found during the restoration. Correcting this damage is the reason for the delay in reopening.

Regards,

Art S.

Nice writeup on Hunterdon Co. bridges with a specific reference to this bridge's total restoration. Note that the bridge is called the Rosemont - Raven Rock Road Bridge or D-300 (the county's internal code). Also note the residents attitude toward keeping the bridges in spite of 'progress'.

http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2013/0...

Will do. Including pictures of the abutments of this one. I have confirmed that the county is spending $3.2 million on rehabbing this bridge.

Regards,

Art S.

I would just create pages and post pics on those pages--he was clogging g up the forum with his pics, which was the problem. We liked his pics, he just had to place them properly.

I had a day to myself and went for a drive with the intention of seeing this bridge today. Passed through the Green Sergeant covered bridge on the way there. When I arrived, I discovered that the Raven Rock Road Bridge is MIA. Quite a shock to see the big void. I think I read that it is getting restored - at least I hope so.

I followed the detour to take pictures from the other side and the detour took me over the Strimples Mill Road Bridge an 1897 Wrought Iron Bridge Co. through truss. That was a nice surprise.

Ended up seeing four of the historic cross Delaware bridges a number of pony trusses and countless stone arches.

Is there much interest in the stone arches? So few are listed compared to what's out there. There are probably hundreds of stone arches that are under 10' in span in Hunterdon, Mercer and Somerset counties in NJ. Many that are quite old - the few I stopped for had date stones from the 1820s and 1830s. I know of others, not on this site, that are from 1700s and still in use. Also, there are plenty stringer bridges with very old abutments.

I can start trying to catalogue them as time permits but I may end up coming across like the guy with the drawbridge drawings.