Canal Road Bridge

Most Recent Visit To Bridge: July 1, 2006

Key Facts

Bridge Name	Type	Road	Location	City	Crossing
Canal Road Bridge	Truss	Canal Road	Mercer County, PA	Sharpsville	Shenango River

Technical Facts

Construction Date	Structure Length	Deck Width	Builder
1897	187 Feet	19 Feet	Penn Bridge Company of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania

This bridge is an eleven panel pin connected structure. While the configuration is listed as a Parker, because it has five angles making up the top chord/end post, the bridge could also be called a camelback. There is extensive v-lacing and lattice on the structure. The deck of the bridge is a metal grate. This bridge is a beautiful structure, and is near to historic canal locks and as such, preserving this bridge makes sense. This bridge has been closed to traffic, and knowing Pennsylvania may be at risk for demolition.

Information and Findings From Pennsylvania's Historic Bridge Inventory

Discussion of Bridge

The 1897, pin connected, single span, 187'-long, Parker thru truss bridge is supported on ashlar abutments with flared wingwalls. The polygonal upper chords are built up box sections, the verticals are toe-out channels with lacing, and the diagonals and lower chords are eye bars. The bridge is historically and technologically significant as an early and complete pin connected, Parker thru truss bridge. The technology is rare in Pennsylvania. Approximately 15 pin connected Parker truss highway bridges survive statewide, and only three date from before 1900. Adding to its significance is its association with the Penn Bridge Company, a prolific regional fabricator of metal truss bridges.

Discussion of Surrounding Area

The bridge carries northbound traffic at the west entrance to the Sharpsville Area Recreation Park, created at the site of Lock No. 10 of the mid 19th century Erie Canal Extension. The abandoned and dewatered canal and stone canal lock chamber is located a short distance south of the bridge. A parallel 2-span, post-1956 stringer bridge carries southbound traffic.

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: Yes

Information From www.mercercotrussbridges.com Demolition Mitigation Website

The bridge now carries northbound traffic only, while a parallel, two-span, post-1956 stringer bridge carries southbound traffic. The bridge crosses the Shenango River at the east entrance to the Sharpsville Canal Lock Recreation Park, which has been created at the site of Lock No. 10 of the mid-19th century Erie Canal Extension. The abandoned and dewatered canal and stone canal lock chamber is located a short distance southwest of the bridge.

The Penn Bridge Company of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, was organized in 1868 as T.B. White & Sons. At the time, the firm constructed wooden bridges. The plant was initially established in New Brighton; it was moved across the Beaver River to Beaver Falls in 1878. In 1887, the firm reorganized and incorporated as the Penn Bridge Company, producers of wrought iron, steel, and combination bridges; iron substructures, buildings, and roof trusses; and plate, box, and lattice girders and architectural ironwork. In the 1890s, the Penn Bridge Company's output averaged 5,000 long tons, ranking it as a small bridge fabricator. The Penn Bridge Company remained independent of the American Bridge Company, and continued to grow over the first two decades of the twentieth century, producing large and small structures and structural steel work. The company added new physical plant in 1902, reincorporated in 1905, and employed more than 500 workers in 1908. The Penn Bridge Company built bridges and structures in nearly all U.S. states and territories. It was particularly prominent in Pittsburgh, the City of Bridges. By 1908, the company had built four bridges over the Ohio River, five over the Monongahela River, and two over the Allegheny River, as well as the original Ohio River Dam Nos. 2, 4, 5, and 6.