Hares Hill Road Bridge, Spanning French Creek, Kimberton, Chester County, PA

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

2 drawings
19 b&w photos
22 data pages
3 photo caption pages
1 color transparencies

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TITLE:
Hares Hill Road Bridge, Spanning French Creek, Kimberton, Chester County, PA

CALL NUMBER:
HAER PA,15-KIMB,2-

REPRODUCTION NUMBER:
[See Call Number]

MEDIUM:
Measured Drawing(s): 2 (24 x 36 in.)
Photo(s): 19 (4 x 5 in.)
Data Page(s): 21 plus cover page
Photo Caption Page(s): 3
Color Transparencies: 1

DATE:
Documentation compiled after 1968.

CREATOR:
Historic American Engineering Record, creator

NOTE:
Survey number HAER PA-208

Unprocessed field note material exists for this structure (N23).

Building/structure dates: 1869 initial construction

Significance: The Hares Hill Road Bridge, probably best described as an arched girder with latticed webbing is the only known surviving example of Thomas W. H. Moseley's "Wrought Iron Lattice Girder Bridge" and closely resembles his patent of August 30, 1870 (No. 106,855). Though modified substantially since its initial construction, it remains an excellent visual example of the proprietary vernacular designs that competed in the market for small highway bridges during the years immediately following the American Civil War. The Hares Hill Road Bridge, together with three others by Moseley, were the first iron bridges built in Chester County. Collectively, they represent that community's first experiment with this "new" bridge type as an alternative to timber and stone masonry for bridge construction. The Hares Hill Road Bridge was one of only two identified as a "bowstring arch-truss" in an inventory of state-owned highway bridges conducted in 1982-1985 by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. It is the only iron highway bridge surviving in Chester County that is still in public use.

SUBJECTS:
PENNSYLVANIA--Chester County--Kimberton

OTHER TITLE:
Moseley's Wrought-Iron Lattice Girder 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.pa2261

CONTENTS:
Photograph caption(s):
GENERAL VIEW LOOKING NORTH SHOWING SOUTH SIDE OF BRIDGE
PERSPECTIVE VIEW LOOKING NORTHEAST SHOWING SOUTH SIDE AND WEST ABUTMENT
VIEW ACROSS DECK LOOKING NORTHEAST FROM WEST END
PERSPECTIVE VIEW ACROSS DECK LOOKING NORTHWEST FROM EAST END
VIEW LOOKING EAST ACROSS DECK
VIEW OF SOUTH TRUSS WHILE ON BRIDGE LOOKING SOUTHWEST
VIEW OF SOUTH TRUSS FROM EAST END
VIEW OF UNDERSIDE OF BRIDGE (BENEATH DECK)
DETAIL VIEW OF LATERAL BRACING
DETAIL VIEW OF LATTICE ON BRIDGE
VIEW OF WEST ABUTMENT
VIEW OF WEST ABUTMENT
DETAIL VIEW OF WEST ABUTMENT AND BEARING SHOE
DETAIL VIEW OF FLOOR BEAM UNDERNEATH DECK
DETAIL VIEW OF LATTICE BRACING DETAIL
VIEW OF LOWER CHORD DETAILS FROM UNDERNEATH BRIDGE
DETAIL VIEW OF DIAGONAL BRACE CONNECTION TO UPPER CHORD
VIEW OF DIAGONAL BRACE AT CENTER SPAN
DETAIL VIEW OF DATE STONE, "Joseph F. Hill, Joseph Doan, Washington Hagerty, Commissioners, Abraham Taney, Contractor. Erected A.D. 1869."

CONTROL #:
PA2261

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