| Key Facts |
| Bridge Name | Facility Carried / Feature Intersected | Location | Structure Type | Construction Date / Builder or Contractor |
| Eatonville Bridge | Church Road Over Bowmans Creek | Eatonville: Wyoming County, Pennsylvania | Metal Pinned Pratt Through Truss, Stationary | 0 By: Pittsburgh Bridge Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Nelson and Buchanan Agents |
| Technical Facts |
| Rehabilitation Date | Structure Length | Roadway Width | Bridge Width | Main Spans | Approach Spans |
| c. 1950 | 110 Feet (33.5 Meters) | 15 Feet (4.6 Meters) | 18 Feet (5.5 Meters) | 1 | None |
This attractive bridge is closed and is located in a very tiny community that truly conveys a feeling of a time past, with regards to how close the buildings are to the road, to the creek, and to each other.
The assessment of this structure in the Historic Bridge Inventory, which does not speculate on a builder, clearly shows that portions of the inventory were not compiled with the appropriate expertise in regards to knowledge of truss bridge builders and stylistic clues on truss bridges in Pennsylvania. The style of this bridge is nearly identical to a number of bridges in Pennsylvania built by the Pittsburgh Bridge Company, enough so, that this bridge was undoubtedly built by that company, most likely sometime in the 1890s.
Information and Findings From Pennsylvania's Historic Bridge InventoryDiscussion of Bridge The single-span, 110'-long, pin-connected Pratt thru truss bridge built ca. 1900 has built-up compression members, eye bar tension members, and lattice portals. It is supported on stone abutments. The lower chord is hipped in the end panels only. The floorbeam/lower chord connections have been altered (ca. 1950). The rolled floorbeams now set directly on top of the pins and the pin plates have been removed, except in the end panels. The lower lateral bracing is welded to the floorbeams' bottom flanges. The bridge has lost integrity of original design due to the altered connections. The bridge's builder and date of construction are undocumented by available records, but stylistically it dates to ca. 1900. More complete examples represent the significance of the bridge type and design (e.g. 65 7207 0416 0107). The bridge is not distinguished by its setting or context. Discussion of Surrounding Area The single lane, closed bridge carried a 2 lane road over a stream in the village of Eatonville. At the bridge's northwest quadrant is a ca. 1960 ranch house and at the southwest quadrant a a late-20th-century cinderblock garage with second story apartment, associated with an altered early 20th century vernacular frame residence. At the east end of the bridge is a T-shaped intersection. Opposite the intersection is an altered late-19th-century frame church with a front addition and replacement siding. At the southeast quadrant is a former mill building converted to apartments. The setting does not have the cohesiveness or integrity of a potential historic district. Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: No |
