Foxburg Bridge (1921)
| Foxburg Bridge | |
|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 41°08′24″N 79°40′52″W / 41.140°N 79.681°WCoordinates: 41°08′24″N 79°40′52″W / 41.140°N 79.681°W |
| Carries | Motor vehicles, pedestrians, PA 58, trains (1921-1964) |
| Crosses | Allegheny River |
| Locale | Foxburg, Pennsylvania |
| Official name | Foxburg Bridge |
| Other name(s) | Old Foxburg Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Truss bridge |
| Material | steel |
| Width | single carriageway (road), single line (rail), stacked. |
| No. of spans | 3 |
| Piers in water | 2 |
| History | |
| Opened | October 16, 1921 |
| Closed | July 3, 2008 (destroyed July 24, 2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Toll | October 16, 1921 - April 1, 1926 |
Foxburg Bridge was a steel-built truss bridge in Foxburg, Pennsylvania. The crossing, which spanned the Allegheny River, was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the 1920s. It originally had a two-tier design in which the top level carried a branch of Northern Subdivision railroad while the lower level was used by road traffic and pedestrians.
This bridge was the third in a series of four bridges to have crossed the Allegheny at this point between Armstrong County on the western bank with Foxburg, Clarion County, on the eastern side. Although the railroad was closed in the 1960s, the bridge remained open to vehicular traffic until July 3, 2008. It was demolished by explosive implosion on July 24, 2008.
The replacement bridge was built adjacent to the old bridge prior to its demolition.
The first bridge was an iron bowstring arch truss completed in summer 1873 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio. It had a total length of 530 feet (160 m). Each of its two spans were 265 feet (81 m). They were supported by one pier in the Allegheny River. Revenues for all traffic were collected at a tollhouse.
A decade later the bridge was replaced when the Pittsburgh and Western Railroad (later part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) laid a line through the area. Due to the demands of a steam haulage, the second bridge was a Howe-truss type built of wood. Work began in September 1882 and was completed in April 1883. The new bridge had a two-tier design: rail traffic would pass over its upper level while horse-drawn transport and pedestrians would use the bottom. The bridge reused the abutments and tollhouse of its predecessor but its central pier was replaced with two columns in the river.
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