New Name for the Rochester-Monaca Bridge

The Monaca-Rochester Bridge has been renamed to the Rochester-Monaca Bridge.

The name of the bridge is decided each year by the winner of the Rochester and Monaca football game.

The bridge is a continuous cantilever truss that opened in 1986. Like the nearby Vanport Bridge, the top chord is flat and the bottom chord curves downward to form points over intermediate piers. The bridge replaced an unusual three-tower cantilever similar to the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge. That bridge, built in 1930, replaced a suspension bridge similar to the 1905 Newell Bridge, located just over the Ohio/West Virginia Border. The Rochester-Monaca Bridge is one of the few major modern truss bridges in Pennsylvania.

Larman Mill Road Bridge Collapses

On October 31, 2009, a propane truck driver disobeyed the 5 ton posting and crossed the Larman Mill Road Bridge. Engineers post weight limits for good reason. Not surprisingly, the truck (as well as the bridge) ended up in the creek. The Larman Mill Road Bridge served a lightly traveled gravel road, used by only 25 vehicles per day. The Pennsylvania Historic Bridge Inventory attributed the bridge to the Farris Engineering Company of Pittsburgh since it is similar to another bridge, a now-demolished SR 3003 bridge over the same creek. At the time of the PAHBI in 1997, PennDOT owned 6 pony truss bridges in Fayette County. In less than ten years, ALL were demolished. In 2009, the similar county-owned bridge was demolished due to a lawbreaking truck. Given the low use of the bridge, it is unlikely that a new bridge will be built in its place.

Links:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_650909.html
http://kdka.com/local/bridge.collapse.fayette.2.1283460.html

New Point Marion Bridge Opened

Photo Credit: Darrell Sapp/Post Gazette

The new Point Marion Bridge opened, and the old Albert Gallatin Memorial Bridge bridge was closed to traffic on October 22.

Visit the historic Point Marion Bridge (Albert Gallatin Memorial Bridge) while you can! The National Register Listed Bridge closed to traffic on October 22nd and is to be demolished November 9th. The 1930 bridge is the third oldest thru cantilever bridge in the state! Note that the replacement bridge, a single span Parker truss, has an extra-wide sidewalk to carry a trail.

The Point Marion Bridge carried PA 88 over the Monongahela River between Fayette and Greene counties.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote this article about the bridge:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09295/1007532-455.stm

Article on the Old Sharpsburg Bridge in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There is an article in today's Post-Gazette about the old Sharpsburg Bridge, which was replaced by the current Robert D. Fleming Bridge.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09280/1003522-294.stm

New Hampshire Bridge Photos Added

Photos of the bridges of New Hampshire have been added to the site.

See the bridge below and other new photos for the following New Hampshire counties:
Rockingham County
Strafford County














Piscataqua River Bridge
Rockingham County, NH

New Bridge Photos from the Historic Bridge Weekend

Bridgemapper has updated photos of several bridges in southwestern Pennsylvania, the West Virginia panhandle, and southeastern Ohio, to new photos taken during the Historic Bridge Weekend.

New photos have been added in Beaver, Fayette, and Greene Counties in Pennsylvania, Belmont and Jefferson Counties in Ohio, and Brooke and Ohio Counties in West Virginia.














Wheeling Suspension Bridge
Wheeling, WV (Ohio County)

Bakerstown Culmerville Road Bridge Closed

The Bakerstown Culmerville Road Bridge was closed today. It is owned by the B&LE Railroad, and the newspaper article says the railroad will repair the bridge. We'll see.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09274/1002310-147.stm

http://www.pghbridges.com/curtisville/0598-4500/bakerstownrd_blerr.htm

http://www.bridgemapper.com/maps/pa/pa_allegheny.htm