Masontown Bridge

Masontown Bridge
PA 21 on the previous Masontown Bridge, demolished in 2013
Coordinates	39°51′11″N 79°55′36″W / 39.8531°N 79.9268°W / 39.8531; -79.9268Coordinates: 39°51′11″N 79°55′36″W / 39.8531°N 79.9268°W / 39.8531; -79.9268
Carries	2 divided lanes of PA 21
Crosses	Monongahela River
Locale	Masontown, Pennsylvania and Monongahela Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania
Other name(s)	Intercounty Bridge
Maintained by	PennDOT
Characteristics
Design	Pennsylvania truss bridge
Total length	1,466 feet (447 m)
Longest span	120 m
Clearance above	21 feet (6.4 m)
Clearance below	55.8 feet (17.0 m)
History
Constructed by	Independent Bridge Company, Pittsburgh
Opened	1925

The Masontown Bridge is a four-lane concrete plate girder bridge that carries vehicular traffic across the Monongahela River between Masontown, Pennsylvania and Monongahela Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania (near Carmichaels by way of Pennsylvania Route 21.

The current structure was completed and opened in December 2015 after a three-year project costing $49.6 million to replace the previous truss bridge built in 1925 and rehabilitated in 1993. The first two lanes of the new bridge were completed in 2013, at which point the old truss bridge was imploded to make way for the other two lanes of the new bridge.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation undertook the bridge replacement project as part of a years-long effort to modernize and improve Route 21 and expand it in some areas.

The old bridge was one of many large truss bridges built in Pennsylvania and Ohio by Farris Engineering in the 1920s. The bridge was constructed by the Independent Bridge Company, Pittsburgh. The structure passed directly in front of the large Hatfield Power Plant and carried a large amount of associated truck traffic.

It replaced a ferry at the site that had been established in 1769. That was first called the Republican Ferry, but later called McCann Ferry after the family that operated it.