The Wright's Ferry Bridge carries

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

(US 30) over the Susquehanna River between Columbia and

Wrightsville, Pennsylvania Wrightsville is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,257 at the 2020 census. Wrightsville borough has a police department, historic society, and a volunteer fire company. History According to a plaque at ...

. The "

Wright's Ferry Wright's Ferry was a Pennsylvania Colony settlement established by John Wright in 1726, that grew up around the site of an important Inn and Pub anchoring the eastern end of a popular animal powered ferry (1730–1901) and now a historic part of ...

" in its name commemorates the first ferry across the Susquehanna River. This bridge is considered the sixth

Columbia–Wrightsville Bridge The Columbia–Wrightsville Bridge, officially the Veterans Memorial Bridge, spans the Susquehanna River between Columbia and Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, and carries Pennsylvania Route 462 and BicyclePA Route S. Built originally as the Lanc ...

; it complements the fifth one, which still carries

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

traffic.Many digital maps label the Route 30 stretch west of this bridge with the "Lincoln Highway" title, though it's

Pennsylvania Route 462 Pennsylvania Route 462 (PA 462) is a east–west state route in York and Lancaster counties in central Pennsylvania. The western terminus is west of York, and the eastern terminus is east of Lancaster. At both ends, PA 462 terminates at U. ...

west of the river – sometimes also labeled as such – that holds the proper identity as Lincoln Highway. ()

History and notable features

Also known informally and locally as the Route 30 bridge, it was commissioned by the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

during the 1960s to relocate US 30 and bypass the river towns of Wrightsville and Columbia. Construction began in March 1969; G.A. & F.C. Wagman, Inc. was the general contractor used for the project. The bridge was completed in 1972 at a cost of $12 million and opened November 21, 1972 under its present commemorative historical name, with

being both the historic ferry's and one of Columbia's former names. It was built using reinforced concrete and steel and has forty-six equal sections that are supported by forty-five piers. US 30 crosses it as a divided four-lane roadway. Approximately a year after its opening, the bridge was shut down briefly so that an experimental weather-resistant coating could be applied to its roadway. Tolls were never collected on this bridge, the sixth to have crossed the river in this general location.

References

* ''Columbia, the Gem'', Bill Kloidt, Sr. 1994, Mifflin Press, Inc. * ''Fire on the River, The Defense of the World's Longest Covered Bridge and How It Changed the Battle of Gettysburg'', George Sheldon, 2006, Quaker Hills Press, Inc. , 978-0-9779315-0-7.

Notes

External links

* http://www.rivertownes.org/Features/Crossings/Crossings.htm * http://www.rivertownes.org/townes.htm {{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges , place = Susquehanna River , bridge = Wright's Ferry Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Shocks Mills Bridge , upstream signs = ''Norfolk Southern Railway'' , downstream = Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge , downstream signs = ''Pennsylvania Railroad'' Bridges over the Susquehanna River U.S. Route 30 Bridges completed in 1972 Bridges in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Bridges in York County, Pennsylvania Road bridges in Pennsylvania Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Steel bridges in the United States

History and notable features

See also

References

Notes

External links