Weaverland Bridge
NBI Information
Location
State: Pennsylvania
County: Lancaster County
Feature Carried: Quarry Road (TR 892)
Feature Crossed: Conestoga River
Latitude, Longitude: 40.1378, -76.0595
Toll: On free road
Maintenance Responsibility: Town or Township Highway Agency
Structure Open, Posted, or Closed to Traffic: Posted for load (may include other restrictions such as temporary bridges which are load posted)
History
Year Built: 1916
Historical Significance: Bridge is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
Picture Date: December 9, 2023
Geometry
Lanes on Structure: 1
Lanes under Structure: 0
Skew: 0
Number of Main Spans: 1
Main Structure Type: Thru Truss*
Main Structure Material: Concrete
Number of Approach Spans: 1
Approach Structure Type: Tee Beam
Approach Structure Material: Concrete
Condition
Inspection Date: November 2021
Deck Condition: Fair
Superstructure Condition: Poor
Substructure Condition: Fair
Channel Condition: Satisfactory
Culvert: Not Applicable
Operating Rating: 39 metric tons
Inventory Rating: 25.4 metric tons
NBI Year: 2023
*This bridge is classified as a concrete thru truss bridge on the National Bridge Inventory. However, it is included in the arch bridges on this webpage, as that is a more accurate description.
The Weaverland Bridge is a concrete bridge that was built in 1916. This is a unique bridge, because it can be classified as a rainbow type tied bridge with diagonal members or as a concrete truss bridge. It is one of only a couple of known bridges of this type in North America.
Reinforced concrete was originally developed in Europe in 1876, but it was slow to be accepted in America. The first reinforced concrete bowstring truss was built in 1904 in France. In 1912, James B. Marsh received a patent for hi reinforced concrete fixed through arch “Rainbow” bridge. He built these bridges in the 1910s to 1930s, mostly throughout the Midwest. Unfortunately, this design received limited acceptance, and never became an industry standard, and very few remain. The Weaverland Bridge was built by Frank H. Shaw along with his brother Percy A. Shaw. Perhaps in attempting to avoid any problems with patents issued to J.B. Marsh, this has unique features found in the previous era's iron bridges with their diagonal elements in the arch. This makes the bridge truly unique.
The location where this bridge is situated was originally a busy location with a processing mill, living quarters, stores, a post office and eventually an electric generating plant. Today there is no evidence of any of these facilities, and the site is on a rural road in Amish country.
Bridge Information
References
Historic Bridges: https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=pennsylvania/quarry/
Historic American Engineering Record: https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa3900/pa3948/data/pa3948data.pdf