Well, I've been looking for an excuse to integrate this aspect of my hobbies with RyPN, and here's the excuse.

http://bridgehunter.com is a national hobbyist-maintained database of historically-significant bridges. This database lists tens thousands of bridges nationwide, ranging from stone-arch and covered bridges to significant modern bridges of unusual design, but the emphasis is on the history.

This website's strength is in highway bridges, primarily because it has managed integration with the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Index. But it is also starting to see more and more rail bridges added, in part because of a few railroad buffs like me. I'm of the opinion that more than a few of us here would be able to contribute to this database; if you don't feel like applying for editor's privileges, I can work with information and photos provided to me.

The webmasters of this site came up with an interesting promotion crossed with a bit of activism: the Top Ranked Unique Savable Structures, or TRUSS, Awards, designed to highlight threatened (even outright doomed) spans in the same way the National Trust for Historic Preservation issues its annual "Most Endangered" properties list.

23 bridges made the "Honorable Mentions":
http://bridgehunter.com/story/1146/

One of them: The cast-iron Valley Road overpass on the Stewartstown Railroad, nominated by yours truly: http://bridgehunter.com/pa/york/valley-road

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to upload some more listings and photos........

Sandy,

Thanks for pointing us to this site. I think it is safe to say there are more than one or two of us with at least a passing interest in bridges. If my memory serves me correctly the iron bridge does not actually support anything other than itself and a deck girder bridge runs through the middle of it. Is this the case? I'm not against listing and trying to save it because of it's modifications.

Interesting bridge. Phoenixville?

It looks as if it has been heavily rebuilt, with the trusses remaining mostly as a nod to history. Odd how the later abutments extend under the trusses, and it looks as if the short girder span under the track actually carries the load. The side clearances on the rail span also look verrrrry close!

Walt Lankenau

Walt and others: the BridgeHunter listings gives you all information known/entered, which varies from speculation in some cases to exhaustive histories in others.. In this case, yes, Phoenixville (one photo shows the builder's plate); it was built for the Northern Central mainline in York County in 1870 and relocated here when that bridge was upgraded in 1885, thus the extended trusses.

This 1994 article from American Heritage Invention & Technology lists 71 cast-iron bridges still extant (albeit some in museums, relocated, dismantled, etc.) at the time.

Thanks for the info, Sandy. Bridgehunter is new to me so I didn't have time to explore it. I did notice the builder's plate shot, but couldn't read it or quickly see if it could be enlarged. Old fart, you know.

Walt

I like bridges too. Researched this bridge a few years ago and kept this link to a page from the Library of Congress photo archive.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?co ... playType=1