Mont Clare Bridge

Mont Clare Bridge
1997 Mont Clare Bridge at sunset
Coordinates	40°08′07.4″N 75°30′31.1″W / 40.135389°N 75.508639°W / 40.135389; -75.508639Coordinates: 40°08′07.4″N 75°30′31.1″W / 40.135389°N 75.508639°W / 40.135389; -75.508639
Carries	PA 29 (Bridge Street)
Crosses	Schuylkill River
Locale	Southeastern Pennsylvania, USA
Maintained by	Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
ID number	460029001000000
Characteristics
Design	Stringer/Multi-beam or Girder
Total length	550 feet (170 m)
Width	38 feet (12 m)
Longest span	110 feet (34 m)
History
Opened	1997
Statistics
Daily traffic	18347 (in 1992) 15544 (in 2000) 16347 (in 2004) 16692 (in 2009)

The Mont Clare Bridge (also Phoenixville – Mont Clare Bridge) is a crossing of the Schuylkill River between Mont Clare and Phoenixville in Pennsylvania, USA. The bridge was also referred to as the Intercounty Bridge, as it connects Montgomery and Chester counties. The bridge abuts a shorter county bridge across the Schuylkill Canal and towpath on the Mont Clare side to complete the crossing. The bridges carry Bridge Street (PA 29), a bike lane and a sidewalk. The bridge will also become part of the Schuylkill River Trail routing.

In early America, the crossing was a ford known originally as Indian or Indiantown Ford. Then successively as Gordon's, Starr's and Jacobs' Ford. The crossing gained some notoriety as Gordon's Ford when it was used by American and British troops during the American Revolutionary War. In the fall of 1777, British troops under Lord Cornwallis forced a passage at Gordon's Ford and at Fatland Ford, further downstream. In response, Washington maneuvered the Continental Army further west to protect his supply line and the Congress, then in York. This left Philadelphia lightly defended, leading to the its capture. Gordon's Ford is mentioned in the writings of both Washington and Cornwallis.

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". That summer, a wooden covered bridge was constructed, it was one of the longest in regional history. In early 1915, state highway engineers formally recommended to the County Commissioners that the bridge be replaced. Then fate took a hand and the covered bridge burned down on May 9, 1915. A temporary wooden replacement bridge was built on piles, just down stream from the previous, until the permanent replacement could be built.