Mont Clare Bridge

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Mont Clare Bridge
Mont Clare Bridge at sunset
Carries	Bridge Street / PA29
Crosses	Schuylkill River
Locale	Southeastern Pennsylvania, USA
Maintained by	Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
ID number	460029001000000
Design	Stringer/Multi-beam or Girder
Longest span	110 feet (34 m)^[1]
Total length	550 feet (170 m)^[1]
Width	38 feet (12 m)^[1]
AADT	2000 (in 1992)^[2] 16185 (in 2006)
Opening date	1997
Coordinates	40°08′07.4″N 75°30′31.1″W / 40.135389, -75.508639Coordinates: 40°08′07.4″N 75°30′31.1″W / 40.135389, -75.508639^[1]

The Mont Clare Bridge (also Phoenixville - Mont Clare Bridge) is a crossing of the Schuylkill River between Mont Clare, Pennsylvania and Phoenixville. The bridge abuts a shorter bridge across the Schuylkill Canal and towpath on the Mont Clare side to complete the crossing. The bridges carry Bridge Street (PA29), a bike lane and a sidewalk.

1 History
- 1.1 Early bridges
- 1.2 1997 bridge
2 References
3 External links

[edit] History

In early America, the crossing was a ford known successively as Gordon's, Starr's and Jacob's Ford.^[3] Gordon's Ford was used by American and British troops during the American Revolutionary War, and is mentioned in the writings of Washington and Cornwallis.

[edit] Early bridges

In the winter of 1843-1844, local businessman Joseph Whitaker, while in the legislature, "obtained a charter for the incorporation of a company to erect a bridge over the Schuylkill at the site of th[e] ford".^[4] That summer, a wooden covered bridge was constructed, it was one of the longest in regional history.^[5] The covered bridge burned down in 1912^[6] and a temporary bridge was built by 1913.^[5] In 1916 a permanent concrete arch bridge was completed. The 1916 bridge was designed by B. H. Davis and constructed by Ambler-Davis Co.^[7]

[edit] 1997 bridge

In 1996 a contract was let to replace the 1916 bridge. The new bridge was designed by HDR, Inc.'s Pittsburgh office and constructed by Allan A. Myers Inc. of Worcester, Pennsylvania. Many design decisions were based on the requirement to keep the closure of State Route 29 to a minimum. The project was kept to a short time line by reusing the existing bridge foundations, using steel girders, and an incentive clause in the contract.^[8] The new bridge opened in 1997.^[9] The new bridge was the first in Pennsylvania to include "shock transmission units", an earthquake damage mitigation technology.^[8]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Google Earth
^ NBI Bridge Street - Schuylkill Canal. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
^ Pennypacker, Samuel Whitaker (1872). Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity: From the Settlement to the Year 1871. Phoenixville, PA: Bavis & Pennypacker, printers, p. 174.
^ Pennypaker, p. 175
^ ^a ^b Martino, Vincent, Jr. (2002). Phoenixville. Arcadia Publishing, pp. 14-15. ISBN 0738511129.
^ Historical marker on 1997 bridge says the first bridge burned in 1915.
^ Mont Clare Bridge. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
^ ^a ^b Merit Award: Short Span - S.R. 0028[sic] OVER THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER (PDF). Modern Steel Construction (September 1998). Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
^ Historical marker on 1997 bridge.