Wagontown Road Bridge

Information and Findings From Pennsylvania's Historic Bridge Inventory

Discussion of Bridge

The one span, 40'-long, steel stringer bridge built in 1918 has plain concrete parapets, concrete jack arch deck with half-depth diaphragms, and horizonally scored concrete abutments with wingwalls. Steel stringer bridges are the most common bridge type in the state, with over 4,300 examples, many dating to before 1910. Jack arch decks were a common means of forming concrete decks beginning in the early 1910s. The bridge has no individually distinguishing technological features. It was built by the Reading RR as a replacement bridge at the same time that the county was building the adjacent NR-listed stone arch bridge over the creek. The bridges were built at the same grade, but otherwise there were no efforts made to unify the design or appearance of the two structurally unrelated bridges. The steel stringer bridge is not historically significant in association with the stone arch bridge nor with its altered mill village setting.

Discussion of Surrounding Area

The bridge carries a 2 lane road over 2 tracks of the Delaware Valley RR, a private short-line now operating the former Reading RR's Wilmington and Northern Railroad that connected Wilmington, DE and Reading, PA. The line was established in the 1860s, acquired by the Reading RR in 1896, and leased from Conrail by the current operator in 1975. The bridge is in the village of Rock Run, north of Coatesville. The mid-19th to early 20th-century mill village is characterized by a collection of altered residences (repl. siding, windows, enclosed porches, etc.) and an abandoned rolling mill. It does not have the integrity of a potential historic district. Immediately south of the overpass is a 4 span stone arch bridge (1540300100267) over the West Branch of the Brandywine River. The stone arch bridge built in 1918 is listed in the National Register (6/22/88).

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: No