Girard Avenue Bridge
Girard Avenue Bridge | |
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Coordinates | 39°58′31″N 75°11′36″W / 39.9752°N 75.1933°W |
Carries | US 13 (Girard Avenue) |
Crosses | Schuylkill River |
Locale | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Followed by | 1873-74, 1969-72 |
History | |
Inaugurated | 1852-55 |
Location | |
The Girard Avenue Bridge is an automobile and
First bridge
The first Girard Avenue Bridge was built 1852-55.
The bridge lasted less than 20 years. In December 1872, a grand jury found that it was poorly constructed and dangerous.[1] A temporary bridge was constructed, that also served as falsework for the second bridge.
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First Girard Avenue Bridge (foreground), circa 1867-72.
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"First Girard Avenue Bridge" (1855-1872).
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Drawing of the first Girard Avenue Bridge (1871) by Thomas Eakins.
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Max Schmitt in a Single Scull (1871) by Thomas Eakins. The first Girard Avenue Bridge is visible in the background, beyond the Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge.
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1872 Schuylkill River map.
Second bridge
The second Girard Avenue Bridge was built 1873-74, in anticipation of the
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"Girard Avenue Bridge, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia" byCurrier & Ives.
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Second Girard Avenue Bridge, under construction.
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Second Girard Avenue Bridge, under construction.
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"General view of Girard Avenue Bridge".
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Second Girard Avenue Bridge.
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Second Girard Avenue Bridge, circa 1875.
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Second Girard Avenue Bridge (foreground), Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge (middle ground), circa 1875.
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"Second Girard Avenue Bridge" (1874-1971).
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Second Girard Avenue Bridge from Zoological Garden (c. 1895)
Third (current) bridge
The third and current Girard Avenue Bridge was built 1969-72.[4] The ornate iron railings of the 1873-74 bridge were retained for the modern highway bridge. Trolleys crossing the bridge were replaced by buses in 1992, but SEPTA Route 15 trolley service was restored in 2005.[5]
The western terminus of the bridge is the congested intersection of 34th Street and West Girard Avenue. The
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Aerial view of Philadelphia Zoo, looking south (2003). Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge crosses Schuylkill River (bottom), with the current Girard Avenue Bridge above it.
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Looking west.
See also
- Transport portal
- Engineering portal
- Pennsylvania portal
- Philadelphia portal
- List of crossings of the Schuylkill River
References
- ^ J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 (Philadelphia, L.H. Everts & Co., 1884), vol. 3, p. 2146.
- ^ William H. Shank, P.E., Historic Bridges of Pennsylvania (American Canal & Transportation Center, 1966), p. 28.
- ^ Philadelphia Timeline, 1874 from www.ushistory.org
- ^ "Photo of the third Girard Avenue Bridge". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ John F. Calnan, Restoration of Girard Avenue Trolley Service on SEPTA's Route 15 (American Public Transportation Association, 2006)[1]
External links
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-1657, "Girard Avenue Bridge, Spanning Schuykill River at Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA", 16 photos, 1 photo caption page
- Video of a trolley crossing the third Girard Avenue Bridge from Flickr.