The West Hickory Bridge is a

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge de ...

that carries

Pennsylvania Route 127 Pennsylvania Route 127 (PA 127) is a state highway located in Forest and Warren counties in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 62 (US 62) in West Hickory. The northern terminus is at US 62 outside of Tidioute. Rout ...

across the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...

in rural

Forest County, Pennsylvania Forest County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,973, making it the third-least populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Tionesta. The county was created in 1848 and later o ...

. Spanning the river between Harmony Township and Hickory Township, it is named for the village of West Hickory. This 2007 bridge replaced an 1896 one-lane

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 ...

, which was designed for non-motorized traffic. It was a multiple span,

Pratt 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 by the

Groton Bridge Company The Groton Bridge Co. was an American construction company. History The company was founded in 1877 as Groton Iron Bridge Company, by merger of two firms. It was reorganized and became the Groton Bridge and Manufacturing Company in 1887. It was ...

and measured 695 feet, 6 inches, in length. ''Note:'' This includes The old bridge was added to 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 1988. Despite the low use of the bridge (only about 900 drivers per day), it was considered to be in need of replacement.

References

Bridge Mapper article on old structure
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges , place =

, bridge = West Hickory Bridge , bridge signs = PA 127 , upstream = Tidioute Bridge , upstream signs = PA 127 , downstream =

Tionesta Bridge The Tionesta Bridge is a girder bridge that carries U.S. Route 62 and Pennsylvania Route 36 across the Allegheny River in rural Forest County, Pennsylvania. The borough of Tionesta on the east bank of the river is connected with an unpopulated se ...

, downstream signs =

U.S. 62 U.S. Route 62 or U.S. Highway 62 (US 62) runs from the Mexican border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York, near the Canadian border. It is the only east-west United States Numbered Highway that connects Mexico and Canad ...

PA 36 Bridges over the Allegheny River Bridges completed in 2007 Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Forest County, Pennsylvania Girder bridges in the United States Pratt truss bridges in the United States Metal bridges in the United States Transportation buildings and structures in Forest County, Pennsylvania

See also

References