RDG - Sunbury Bridge (Old)
Facts
- Overview
- Lost Whipple through truss bridge over Susquehanna River on Reading Railroad
- Location
- Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, and Snyder County, Pennsylvania
- Status
- Superstructure replaced
- History
- Built 1883 by Phila. & Reading subsidiary Shamokin, Sunbury & Lewisburg; Replaced by plate girder bridge ca. 1917.
- Builders
- - Clarke, Reeves & Co. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Phoenix Bridge Co. of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
- Railroads
- - Philadelphia & Reading Rail Road (1833-1896) (P&R)
- Philadelphia & Reading Railway (1896-1923) (P&R)
- Design
- 4 Vertical endpost Whipple through trusses (3 skewed 1 straight) and 10 inclined endpost whipple through trusses. All with Phoenix columns
- Also called
- RDG - Susquehanna River Bridge (Sunbury, Old)
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.86212, -76.80190 (decimal degrees)
40°51'44" N, 76°48'07" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 18/348138/4525013 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Sunbury
- Inventory number
- BH 71280 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- July 11, 2021: New photo from Art Suckewer
- June 24, 2021: New photo from Luke
- June 22, 2020: New photos from Art Suckewer
- March 30, 2020: New photo from Art Suckewer
- March 6, 2020: Updated by Alexander D. Mitchell IV: corrected year of construction
- February 5, 2019: New photo from Art Suckewer
- May 17, 2016: Photo imported by Alexander D. Mitchell IV
- March 25, 2016: New photo from Art Suckewer
- March 24, 2016: Updated by Alexander D. Mitchell IV: Corrected entry spelling and added Snyder County
- March 21, 2016: New photo from Art Suckewer
- March 10, 2016: Updated by Luke: Refined one of the builders
- March 10, 2016: Added by ArtS
Related Bridges
- RDG - Sunbury Bridge (Successor)
Comments
That Moonlight shot (#5) is killer!
You are correct Luke. The background bridge is the old Bainbridge Street Bridge. This picture is taken from the Sunbury side of the river long before the flood walls were put in around 1948. I lived in this general area in the 1950's and 1960's. I remember and have driven around the entire territory many times.
Art, I believe that would be https://bridgehunter.com/pa/northumberland/bh52293/
Tony and J.P.,
I'm happy to stay in modern times and focus on understanding what was and saving what we still have. I have a strong suspicion that the romantic view of the past and the reality of the past are very different.
By the way, what bridge is seen through the trusses of the moonlight shot?
Regards,
Art S.
I saw the difference being that the Prr-Columbia-Wrightsville bridge is a whipple truss.They do look familiar.That's what threw me.
That moment when you wish you could go back in time.....
Art,i got that backwards.It's actually Prr-Columbia-Wrightsville.My mistake.
Art,i almost got this bridge confused with the PRR-Wrightsville-Columbia bridge.I went back to where we put messages on the forum page and found it.
You are correct Art, these photos are looking east. The Pennsylvania Canal was on the west bank of the west branch of the Susquehanna River. About a mile or so north of this shot the canal boats crossed the West Branch on a big slackwater with the towpath suspended on a covered bridge. The covered bridge was later replaced by a concrete bridge called the "White Bridge." I can remember driving under the successor bridge for the Reading many times before it was removed.
Makes me wanna travel back in time!
:^)
It's amazing what used to be out there!
One hell of a find, Art!
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/pa/northumberland/bh71280/
Thanks for posting that Sandy! Now we have the missing piece.