The Great Crossings Bridge is a masonry bridge which is on the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

between Somerset County and

Fayette County, Pennsylvania Fayette County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, adjacent to Maryland and West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 128,804. Its county seat is Uniontown. The county w ...

. It crosses the

Youghiogheny River The Youghiogheny River , or the Yough (pronounced Yok ) for short, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in the U.S. s ...

near

Confluence, Pennsylvania Confluence is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 724 at the 2020 census. Geography Confluence is at (39.809997, -79.356692). ...

History and architectural features

Built during the early nineteenth century, near a ford that had been in use by Europeans since

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

's 1753 journey to

Fort LeBoeuf Fort Le Bœuf (often referred to as Fort de la Rivière au Bœuf) was a fort established by the French during 1753 on a fork of French Creek (in the drainage area of the River Ohio), in present-day Waterford, in northwest Pennsylvania. The fort ...

, the long, high, wide sandstone bridge with three arches was erected between 1813 and 1818 by James Kinkead, James Beck and Evan Evans, and was dedicated on July 4, 1818 at an event attended by President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

. The town of Somerfield, Pennsylvania, which was originally named Smythfield, was built at the eastern end of the bridge in 1817. The bridge and town were later inundated by

Youghiogheny River Lake The Youghiogheny River Lake is a flood control reservoir in southwestern Pennsylvania and western Maryland. The lake is a significant tourist attraction, bringing over one million visitors a year to the area. The lake was formed in 1944 by the dam ...

, a reservoir that began filling in 1940. The bridge remains standing in the reservoir, and may be crossed at times when water levels are low, just downstream from the present U.S. Route 40 bridge.

References

{{authority control Stone arch bridges in the United States National Road Bridges in Somerset County, Pennsylvania Youghiogheny River Submerged buildings and structures Bridges in Fayette County, Pennsylvania