Fallston Bridge

Bridge Documented: July 3, 2006

This is a very large example of the Penn Bridge Company's work. Most of their work I have seen is smaller single span truss bridges such as the Coal Center Bridge. It makes sense that they would build such an impressive an ornate structure at this location however, since it is just south of Beaver Falls, which is where the Penn Bridge Company was located. Even a bridge like this, that is so unlike other Penn Bridge Company bridges that I have seen, features those separate pins for the hip vertical and the top chord / endpost connection that show up on Penn Bridge Company bridges.

This bridge is a rare example of a multi-span Whipple truss. It features extensive v-lacing and lattice, and the connections are pinned. There is a cantilevered sidewalk present on the south side of the structure. The concrete deck of this sidewalk has bulged in several areas for reasons I was unsure of.

I am uncertain about the fate of this bridge. The www.nationalbridges.com listing says it was closed to traffic as in the 2004 national inventory. Other people have told me that there were plans to tear this bridge down. However, when I visited the bridge after hearing all this, it was open to traffic with fresh black paint on it. So I am unsure if that means it was restored and is safe from demolition, or not. A local police officer in the area informed me that at one time you could see through the floorbeams they were so badly rusted. He was uncertain however about the bridges current fate. If the bridge is open to traffic, it would seem to make sense that the bridge's floorbeams had been replaced or repaired. In truth, the bridge looked restored to me. However, the Historic Bridge Inventories lack of information, and statement that a Section 106 Consultation Process took place, suggests that replacement was at one point definitly the plan. Section 106 is the mitigation process that provides a path for jurisdictions to justify the demolition of historic bridges.