West Main Street Bridge, Spanning South branch of Raritan River, Clinton, Hunterdon County, NJ

NEW SEARCH

HELP

ABOUT COLLECTION

Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey

3 drawings
17 b&w photos
24 data pages
2 photo caption pages

How to obtain copies of this item

TITLE:
West Main Street Bridge, Spanning South branch of Raritan River, Clinton, Hunterdon County, NJ

CALL NUMBER:
HAER NJ,10-CLIN,1-

REPRODUCTION NUMBER:
[See Call Number]

MEDIUM:
Measured Drawing(s): 3 (24 x 36 in.)
Photo(s): 17 (5 x 7 in.)
Data Page(s): 23 plus cover page
Photo Caption Page(s): 2

DATE:
Documentation compiled after 1968.

CREATOR:
Historic American Engineering Record, creator

NOTE:
Survey number HAER NJ-19

Unprocessed field note material exists for this structure (FN-8, N15).

Building/structure dates: 1870 initial construction

Significance: The Lowthorp Truss Bridge represents an early type of iron truss that dominated bridge construction from the 1850s to the 1870s. Fabricated in 1870 by William and Charles Cowin of Lambertville, New Jersey, the bridge follows the Pratt configuration in the arrangement of its trussing members. It is of composite construction, with all compression members made of cast-iron and all tension members made of wrought-iron. In the Pratt truss, the vertical posts and horizontal upper chord are in compression and are made of cast-iron; the diagonals and bottom chord are in tension and are made of wrought-iron. Cast-iron members and lower chord connections are based on truss bridge patents received by Francis C. Lowthorp of Trenton, New Jersey, during the 1860s and 1870s.The West Main Street Bridge is one of three existing Cowin-fabricated spans in New Jersey. It is also one of two Cowin bridges that used William Johnson's patented tension adjuster.

SUBJECTS:
NEW JERSEY--Hunterdon County--Clinton
civil engineering
bridge construction
iron truss bridges

OTHER TITLE:
Lowthorp Truss Bridge

COLLECTION:
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)

REPOSITORY:
Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

DIGID:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.nj0144

CONTENTS:
Photograph caption(s):
1. VIEW, LOOKING FROM NORTHWEST, SHOWING APPROACH
2. GENERAL SIDE ELEVATION VIEW, LOOKING FROM NORTHWEST
3. GENERAL VIEW, LOOKING FROM NORTHWEST, SHOWING PIER
4. DETAIL VIEW, LOOKING FROM WEST ALONG NORTHWEST WALKWAY, SHOWING VERTICAL COMPRESSION MEMBERS 5. 'BARREL SHOT' VIEW LOOKING ACROSS BRIDGE FROM THE WEST
5. "BARREL SHOT" VIEW LOOKING ACROSS BRIDGE FROM THE WEST.
6. DETAIL VIEW, LOOKING FROM WEST ALONG SOUTHSIDE WALKWAY, SHOWING VERTICAL ENDPOST
7. GENERAL VIEW, LOOKING FROM SOUTHWEST, SHOWING APPROACH
8. DETAIL VIEW, LOOKING FROM SOUTHWEST, SHOWING CAST IRON GUARD RAIL
9. GENERAL VIEW OF BRIDGE, LOOKING FROM NORTHEAST
10. DETAIL VIEW, LOOKING FROM NORTHEAST, SHOWING REINFORCED FLOOR BEAMS
11. DETAIL VIEW OF ENDPOST, SHOWING '1870' DATE IN CAST IRON
12. DETAIL VIEW OF NORTH SIDE OF BRIDGE, LOOKING FROM NEST, SHOWING TOP CHORD CONNECTION
13. DETAIL VIEW OF NORTH SIDE OF BRIDGE, SHOWING WROUGHT IRON DIAGONALS WITH ADJUSTMENT DEVICE
14. DETAIL VIEW OF SOUTH SIDE OF COMPRESSION MEMBERS. NOTE TWENTIETH CENTURY STEEL COMPRESSION MEMBER IN RIGHT FOREGROUND
15. DETAIL VIEW OF GUARD RAIL ALONG NORTH SIDE OF BRIDGE
16. DETAIL VIEW OF UPPER CHORD CONNECTION, SHOWING OCTAGONALLY-SHAPED UPPER CHORD COMPRESSION MEMBER
17. DETAIL VIEW OF GUARD NAIL

CONTROL #:
NJ0144

NEW SEARCH HELP ABOUT COLLECTION