Frye Station Bridge

"SR-481 Bridge"

Bridge Documented: July 3, 2006

Key Facts

Bridge Name	Type	Road	Location	City	Crossing
Frye Station Bridge	Truss	SR-481	Washington County, PA	Frye	Pigeon Creek

Technical Facts

Construction Date	Structure Length	Deck Width
1935	82 Feet	25 Feet

The historic bridge inventory lists this bridge as simply the Frye Bridge, but the plaque on the bridge clearly says this is the Frye Station Bridge. There must have been a train station around here at one time or something. This six panel Parker pony truss bridge is similar to the seven panel Central Avenue Bridge. The Central Avenue Bridge is nicer looking though because they haven't added ugly New Jersey Barriers to that bridge like they did here. Despite this, the bridge is still attractive, and is an example of building technologies no longer used today. In my opinion the bridge does have historic value. This bridge features lattice under the top chord. I found a "Weirton" steel stamp on the bridge.

PennDOT really irritated me, because I had expected to see another older, more exciting truss bridge on the way over to Monongahela, but they had very recently demolished it (like within the month... or even week), historically oblivious idiots that they are. It is events like this that make me dispute the statements by their bridge inventory that call bridges such as the Frye Station Bridge non-historic. Since, as PennDOT continues to obliterate the historic landscape, bridges such as this one grow in rarity and thus significance.

Information and Findings From Pennsylvania's Historic Bridge Inventory

Discussion of Bridge

The single-span, 82'-long and 25' wide steel Parker pony truss bridge is supported on reinforced concrete abutments. A sidewalk with a riveted steel railing is cantilevered off one side of the truss. The bridge was built to a frequently used state standard design in 1935, and it has no innovative or distinctive details. Rolled section was used for web members starting in the late 1920s. Neither the bridge nor its setting are historically or technologically significant. Safety shape barriers have been placed inside the truss lines.

Discussion of Surrounding Area

The bridge carries a two-lane road and a sidewalk over a stream at a T intersection with SR 2023 in Frye, a mining town. The area is dominated by a mix of highly altered late-19th and 20th century houses and commercial buildings. A non-descript ca. 1900 vernacular commercial building is north of the intersection and the bridge. The main part of Frye is well southwest of the bridge. The setting does not have consistency or cohesiveness to be a potential historic district.

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: Yes