Grant Street Bridge

Most Recent Visit To Bridge: July 3, 2006

There are plans to demolish this bridge!

Key Facts

Bridge Name	Type	Road	Location	City	Crossing
Grant Street Bridge	Truss	Grant Street	Lawrence County, PA	New Castle	Shenango River

Technical Facts

Construction Date	Structure Length	Deck Width
1914	245 Feet	46 Feet

The only thing that Pennsylvania and Preservation have in common is the same first letter.

Featuring steel fabricated by Phoenix, this is an impressive pin connected Pennsylvania truss bridge. The bridge has atypical way bracing and portal bracing design, which give the bridge a slightly unusual appearance. V-lacing and lattice present on the bridge add to the intricate beauty of the complex Pennsylvania truss configuration. This bridge has been closed to traffic, and it is likely to be demolished. This is a foolish decision for New Castle, who should instead restore this bridge so it can continue to be an attractive feature of the city. New Castle should ignore the non-historic finding of the historic bridge inventory. This bridge, with pinned connections and rivets utilizes many technologies that are no longer used today. The bridge is also more attractive than a modern bridge replacement could ever hope to be.

Information and Findings From Pennsylvania's Historic Bridge Inventory

Discussion of Bridge

The one-span, 245'-long and 46' wide, pin-connected, steel Pennsylvania thru truss built in 1914 is supported on stone abutments. The trusses are traditionally composed. All of the members are built up except for the eye bar tension diagonals. The built up floorbeams are framed into the verticals below the lower chords. The sidewalk is supported on built up brackets and is finished with a plain metal railing. The bridge is long, but it is a later and average span length of a pinned connected truss with subdivided panels. Earlier examples include 11 3022 0010 0000, the Johnstown Inclined Plane bridge built in 1890. This example is not historically or technologically significant.

Discussion of Surrounding Area

The bridge carries the street over a river in New Castle in a mixed use area of cleared land, 1920s warehouses, and a late-19th, early-20th century residential area and modern houses. The setting does not appear to have the cohesiveness or significance to be a historic district.

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: No