The Bardwell's Ferry Bridge, built in 1882, is a historic

lenticular truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

bridge spanning the

Deerfield River Deerfield River is a river that runs for from southern Vermont through northwestern Massachusetts to the Connecticut River. The Deerfield River was historically influential in the settlement of western Franklin County, Massachusetts, and its n ...

between the towns of Shelburne and Conway in Franklin County, Massachusetts. The bridge is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and is designated as a Massachusetts Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Description

The Bardwell's Ferry Bridge carries Bardwell's Ferry Road across the

. The bridge is situated within a deep valley, with sharply sloping roadways on each side. Built by the

Berlin Iron Bridge Co. The Berlin Iron Bridge Company was a Berlin, Connecticut company that built iron bridges and buildings that were supported by iron. It is credited as the architect of numerous bridges and buildings now listed on the U.S. National Register of His ...

of East Berlin, Connecticut, the bridge is long, consisting of 13 panels. It is the longest single span lenticular bridge in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

.Lutenegger, Alan J. (2008). "Extant Lenticular Iron Truss Bridges from the Berlin Iron Bridge Company". In Hojjat Adeli (Ed.)
''Historic Bridges: Evaluation, Preservation, and Management''
pp. 133–35. Taylor & Francis Group. The end posts and upper chords are built-up open box members, consisting riveted plates and angles giving dimensions of . The lower chords are constructed from eye bars. The bridge deck is wide and is constructed of wooden planks. During the latter part of the 19th century, the Berlin Iron Bridge Co. manufactured and erected almost 800 lenticular truss bridges in the United States (Darnell 1979). While most of these bridges were built in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, a few were constructed in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. These bridges are sometimes referred to as "pumpkin-seed bridges", "cats-eyes bridges", "elliptical truss bridges", or "parabolic truss bridges" because of their unique lens shape. Lenticular bridges were only used for vehicular traffic and were generally considered too light to be used for railroad and trolley loads. Bardwell's Ferry Bridge viewed from north in 2014

Bardwell's Ferry Bridge viewed from north in 2014

The Bardwell's Ferry Bridge was restored in the 1990s, and added to the

in 2000.

References

External links

1998 Federal Highway Administration Award
* {{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Bridges completed in 1880 Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Truss bridges in the United States Bridges in Franklin County, Massachusetts Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Massachusetts 1882 establishments in Massachusetts Conway, Massachusetts

Description

See also

References

External links