OFFICIAL NAME:
Library Road Bridge No. 1 over Piney Fork Creek
OTHER DESIGNATION:
Library Rd over Piney Fork, south of Clifton Rd
brid582-27
LOCATION:
Bethel Park
USGS 7.5" Topo Quad - UTM Coordinates:
Bridgeville - Zone 17; 0582 4460
CARRIES:
-- Library Rd [PA88]
BETWEEN:
-- Clifton Rd [Orange Belt]
-- Churchill Rd
CROSSES:
-- Piney Fork
TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION / DESIGN:
stone arch
locally-quarried sandstone
outer spandrel wall: rock-faced coursed ashlar
upper walls and parapets: dressed coursed ashlar
arch ring: dressed voussoirs in segmental arch
6 ft wide concrete sidewalk added to eastern side, outside of original structure
LENGTH OF MAIN SPAN:
16 ft
TOTAL LENGTH (including longest elevated ramp):
45.5 ft
22 ft wide, between parapets
HEIGHT OF DECK:
YEAR ERECTED / ENGINEER:
c1900, Allegheny County?
ADDITIONAL INFO:
The upper courses of masonry are more squared off compared to most other local stone arch bridges. The more common design features parapets with rounded top and horizontal curves at the portals; Walter Kidney of PHLF compared the design to an earthworm. This seems to indicate this bridge was built at a different time than its neighbor several hundred feet to the north on Library Road. They are similar enough to presume they were built under the same designer or contractor. It has not been determined which was built first, and why the design would have changed.
After approximately one hundred years of service, the span appears to be in good shape. There are no weight limits and Library Road, PA 88, is heavily traveled. But being so narrow -- 22 feet between stone parapets -- would seem to endanger the structure's future on a busy state highway. There are numerous scars from past scrapes. At least one large stone was removed from the parapet when the sidewalk was added.
This bridge may be threatened with replacement. A 1997 PA Senate Bill (186 P.N. 445) lists an appropriation for $161,000 (Base Construction Allocation - $128,000); (Land Allocation - $20,000); (Design and Contingencies - $13,000).
from the South Park Township Public Library
The section of South Park Township known as Library was named because of the presence of a private library collection in the home of John Moore. Around 1833, John Moore began a fund to purchase books and subsequently became the first librarian of the new collection.Ê Other members of the community added to the library, so that the number of volumes grew to about 2,000. This neighborhood group of library members formed a "Library Society". The last librarian in this era was Samuel Wilson, a blacksmith who stored the collection in his stable.
FIELD CHECKED:
28-Sep-2002
INFO SOURCES:
field check
