Rating:
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Hibernia Mine Railroad Bridge

Somerset County, New Jersey

Photos 

portal view from the parking lot

Bridge is now the entrance to a bicycle trail

Photo taken by Andrew Pearce in June 2013

Enlarge

BH Photo #255427

Map 

Street View 

Genuine Phoenix, but unmarked 

Written by Andrew Pearce

As far as I know, all Phoenix Columns were made by PIC. Many of their bridges were factory built by PBC and the assembled by local builders. There is nothing on any column, chord, diagonal, or floor beam on this bridge marked Phoenix Iron Company. Perhaps they were all ground down. The paint is not too thick to obscure the marks if they were there; it's thin enough so that you can see the texture of the wrought iron beneath it.

At some point in the past, something was attached to one end of one side of the bridge. The first 3 columns on the east side have 2 drilled 3/4" holes in them about 9 and 11 feet above the deck on the inside. No matching holes on the outside of those columns, no matching holes on the other side or on the other end of the bridge.

No builder's plaque present, which may not have been uncommon for a railroad bridge.

Facts 

Overview
Pratt through truss bridge over Raritan Power Canal on Raritan River Greenway
Location
Raritan, Somerset County, New Jersey
Status
Open to pedestrians
History
Built 1879 as part of the Hibernia Mine Railroad, moved in 1894 to Hillsborough, and then relocated and rehabilitated in 2007 to be used on the Raritan River Greenway
Builder
- Clarke, Reeves & Co. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Railroad
- Hibernia Mine Railroad
Design
This bridge uses Phoenix Columns and is skewed.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.56050, -74.64733   (decimal degrees)
40°33'38" N, 74°38'50" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/529856/4490029 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Raritan
Inventory number
BH 49640 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (9,802)
Built 1879 (131)
Built during 1870s (1,528)
Clarke, Reeves & Co. (23)
Have street view (30,595)
Hibernia Mine Railroad (1)
New Jersey (1,778)
Open to pedestrians (4,715)
Owned by county (22,057)
Pin-connected (5,511)
 Pratt through truss (6,455)
Pratt truss (10,915)
Preserved (1,254)
Railroad (17,179)
Raritan, New Jersey (2)
Relocated (1,112)
Somerset County, New Jersey (149)
Through truss (19,327)
Truss (38,720)

Update Log 

  • June 28, 2022: New photo from Patrick Gurwell
  • March 10, 2021: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
  • March 6, 2021: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
  • May 16, 2020: New photo from Patrick Gurwell
  • January 8, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Hibernia Mine Railroad", "Relocated", "Railroad"
  • June 4, 2013: Essay added by Andrew Pearce
  • September 16, 2011: Added by James McCray

Sources 

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Comments 

Hibernia Mine Railroad Bridge
Posted August 26, 2021, by John H Thomas (fendozin [at] yahoo [dot] com)

With right sun angle the Phoenix Iron letters can be seen on last bottom beam at park end of bridge. paint makes it hard to see without the right light.