Lombard Street Bridge is a historic

truss bridge 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 ...

located at

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is an 88-foot

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

span consisting of three lines of trusses—two outer trusses of composite cast and wrought iron in a diagonal

Pratt Pratt is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: A–F * Abner Pratt (1801–1863), American diplomat, jurist, politician, lawyer * Al Pratt (baseball) (1847–1937), American baseball player * Andy Pratt (baseball) (bor ...

design and a center composite bowstring truss of Pratt-system web. It was designed in 1877 by engineer

Wendel Bollman Wendel Bollman (January 21, 1814 – 1884) was an American self-taught civil engineer, best known for his iron railway bridges. Only one of his patented "Bollman truss" bridges survives, the Bollman Truss Railroad Bridge in Savage, Maryland. Th ...

(1814–1884). The center bowstring is actually a bifurcated cast iron

water main A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements. Defini ...

. This design for a bridge carrying a water line as a component of the truss bridge support itself is a unique design element of this bridge. The bridge was dismantled and placed into storage in 1975, after it was judged that it could not handle the increased traffic on Lombard Street. It 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 1972.

References

External links

*, including photo in 1968, at Maryland Historical Trust Wrought iron bridges in the United States Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore Transportation buildings and structures in Baltimore Road bridges in Maryland Relocated buildings and structures in Maryland Pratt truss bridges in the United States Iron bridges in the United States {{Maryland-bridge-struct-stub