The Golden Hill Bridge is a historic bridge on Golden Hill Road over the
Housatonic River
The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...
in
Lee, Massachusetts
Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,788 at the 2020 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee, is p ...
. It is a lenticular
pony truss
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
bridge built c. 1885 by the
Berlin Iron Bridge Company
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 Hi ...
, and is the state's oldest surviving bridge of this type. It is one of only five Berlin Co. bridges in the Berkshires, and is the only known surviving bridge to implement modifications to the pony truss design patented by William O. Douglas in 1885.
The bridge was 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 ...
in 1994.
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Description and history
The Golden Hill Bridge is located in a rural setting in northern Lee, carrying Golden Hill Road, a local through street, across the Housatonic River in an east–west orientation. It is a single-span iron lenticular pony truss structure, long and wide, resting on concrete abutments. The truss depth at the center of the span is .[ The bridge deck consists of modern steel I-beam stringers supporting a concrete road surface.
A bridge has been documented to stand at this location as early as the 1790s. A bridge at the site underwent repairs in 1866, but was judged to be in need of repair or replacement in 1885. The town contracted for the trusses with the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, then a major producer of bridge trusses, and the bridge was completed for $1,000. In 1965, the state added a metal grid deck, and in 1970 it replaced the original deck supports with I-beams.][ In 1992, after the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic, the state began proceedings to consider replacement of the aging structure. It was further closed to pedestrians in 1996.][ The bridge finally underwent major restorative work in 2005, and is again open to traffic.
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See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Bridges in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Lee, Massachusetts
Truss bridges in the United States
Iron bridges in the United States