Market Street Bridge (Philadelphia)
| Market Street Bridge | |
|---|---|
_-_IMG_7252.JPG) |
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| Coordinates | 39°57′16″N 75°10′49″W / 39.95444°N 75.18028°WCoordinates: 39°57′16″N 75°10′49″W / 39.95444°N 75.18028°W |
| Carries |
 PA 3 eastbound (Market Street) |
| Crosses | Schuylkill River |
| Locale | Philadelphia |
| Other name(s) | Permanent Bridge High Street Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Covered Arch(1805) |
| Material | Wood(1805) |
| Total length | 1,300 feet (400 m) |
| Piers in water | 2 (1805) 1 (1932) |
| History | |
| Designer | Timothy Palmer(1805) |
| Opened | 1805 |
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The Market Street Bridge carries Market Street, the primary east-west street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, across the Schuylkill River. The current bridge is the fifth permanent structure built at the site.
A ferry was established at or near this location by 1673. It came to be called the "Middle Ferry," because a ferry operated upstream (Upper Ferry) and another downstream (Lower Ferry).
Early in the Revolutionary War, American General Israel Putnam built a pontoon bridge at the Middle Ferry site, made of floating logs bound together by rope. This was intentionally destroyed to prevent its falling into the hands of the British. The British Army built its own pontoon bridge at the site during the 1777-78 Occupation of Philadelphia. It washed away in 1780. Its replacement washed away in 1784. That was succeeded by a plank-floor bridge also built on floating logs. Market Street was originally known as "High Street," and this floating bridge was the final link in the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike.
When the directors of the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge Company of Philadelphia elected in 1801 to build a wooden structure across the Schuylkill instead of the stone arch bridge originally planned, they called on Timothy Palmer to complete the job. Palmer (1751–1821) was the best-known wooden bridge builder in the country, and the resulting bridge became his best-known work. Palmer and his workmen completed the structure on two previously-built piers at a cost of US$300,000. Known then as "The Permanent Bridge," it had an overall length of 495 feet (151 m), with a center span of 195 feet (59 m) and a 12-foot (3.7 m) rise. The two side spans were 150 feet (46 m) each. Supposedly, this was the first permanent bridge over a major American river, as well as the world's first bridge with regular masonry piers in deep water.
The trusswork was sufficiently completed on January 1, 1805, to permit the bridge to be opened to traffic. But the president of the bridge company asked Palmer if the bridge wouldn't last longer if it was protected from the wind and rain by a weatherproof covering. Palmer said that the bridge's life span might be increased from ten-twelve years to thirty-forty years if a roof and sidewalls were added. Thus was created the first covered bridge in America.
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Wikipedia