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Great Crossings Bridge
The Great Crossings Bridge is a masonry bridge which is on the National Road between Somerset County and Fayette County, Pennsylvania. It crosses the Youghiogheny River near Confluence, Pennsylvania. History and architectural features Built during the early nineteenth century, near a ford that had been in use by Europeans since George Washington's 1753 journey to Fort LeBoeuf, the long, high, wide sandstone bridge with three arches was erected between 1813 and 1818 by James Kinkead, James Beck and Evan Evans, and was dedicated on July 4, 1818 at an event attended by President James Monroe. The town of Somerfield, Pennsylvania, which was originally named Smythfield, was built at the eastern end of the bridge in 1817. The bridge and town were later inundated by Youghiogheny River Lake, a reservoir that began filling in 1940. The bridge remains standing in the reservoir, and may be crossed at times when water levels are low, just downstream from the present U.S. Route 40 ...
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Youghiogheny River
The Youghiogheny River , or the Yough (pronounced Yok ) for short, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in the U.S. states of West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. It drains an area on the west side of the Allegheny Mountains northward into Pennsylvania, providing a small watershed in extreme western Maryland into the tributaries of the Mississippi River. Youghiogheny is a Lenape word meaning "a stream flowing in a contrary direction". Variant names According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as: * Gawgawgamie, Ohio Gani River, Roonanetto, Yanghyanghgain, Yaughvaughani, Yauyougaine River, Yawyawganey, Yawyougaine River, Yeoyogani, Yochio Geni, Yoghioghenny River, Yogyogany River, Yohioganey, Yohogany, Youghiogeny River, Youghogania, Youghyaughye, Youghyoghgyina River, Yoxhio geni River, Yoxhiogany, Yo ...
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Confluence, Pennsylvania
Confluence is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 724 at the 2020 census. Geography Confluence is at (39.809997, -79.356692). The borough is located at the southern end of Lower Turkeyfoot Township, and the borough of Ursina sits to its east. Confluence is named for the juncture of the Casselman River and Laurel Hill Creek with the Youghiogheny River. It therefore provides many opportunities for boating and fishing (and hiking, as Pennsylvania's highest point, Mount Davis, is located nearby). According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , of which is land and (3.03%) is water. The borough is bordered to the south by the Youghiogheny River Lake and to the north by the Ohiopyle State Park. Climate The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. According t ...
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Stone Arch Bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct (a long bridge) may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today. History Possibly the oldest existing arch bridge is the Mycenaean Arkadiko Bridge in Greece from about 1300 BC. The stone corbel arch bridge is still used by the local populace. The well-preserved Hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge has a triangular corbel arch. The 4th century BC Rhodes Footbridge rests on an early voussoir arch. Although true arches were already known by the Etruscans and ancient Greeks, the Romans were – as with the vault and the dome – the first to fully realize the potential of arches for bridge construction. A list of Roman bridges compiled by the engineer Colin O'Connor features 3 ...
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National Road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main transport path to the West for thousands of settlers. When improved in the 1830s, it became the second U.S. road surfaced with the macadam process pioneered by Scotsman John Loudon McAdam. Construction began heading west in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac River. After the Financial Panic of 1837 and the resulting economic depression, congressional funding ran dry and construction was stopped at Vandalia, Illinois, the then-capital of Illinois, northeast of St. Louis across the Mississippi River. The road has also been referred to as the Cumberland Turnpike, the Cumberland–Brownsville Turnpike (or Road or Pike), the Cumberland Pike, the National Pike, and the National Turnpike. In the 20th century with the advent of the auto ...
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Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Somerset County (Pennsylvania German: ''Somerset Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 74,129. Its county seat is Somerset. The county was created from part of Bedford County on April 17, 1795, and named after the county of Somerset in England. Somerset County comprises the Somerset, PA micropolitan statistical area, which is included in the Johnstown–Somerset, PA combined statistical area. The county is famous for being the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93, one of the four flights involved in the September 11 attacks, which crashed near the village of Shanksville after the flight's passengers struggled with Al-Qaeda hijackers for control of the plane, which terrorists intended to fly into either the U.S. Capitol or the White House. The Somerset County Amish community is the second oldest Amish community in the world that still exists, established in 1772. It is located in the South of the county aro ...
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Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Fayette County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, adjacent to Maryland and West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 128,804. Its county seat is Uniontown. The county was created on September 26, 1783, from part of Westmoreland County and named after the Marquis de Lafayette. Fayette County is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The southern border of Fayette County is the southern border of Pennsylvania at both the Pennsylvania–Maryland state line (the Mason–Dixon line) and the Pennsylvania–West Virginia state line. History The first Europeans in Fayette County were explorers, who had used an ancient American Indian trail that bisected the county on their journey across the Appalachian Mountains. In 1754, when control of the area was still in dispute between France and Great Britain, 22-year-old George Washington fought against the French at the Battle of Jumonville Glen ...
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George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army, Washington led the Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and served as the president of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which created the Constitution of the United States and the American federal government. Washington has been called the " Father of his Country" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the country. Washington's first public office was serving as the official surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia, from 1749 to 1750. Subsequently, he received his first military training (as well as a command with the Virginia Regiment) during the French and Indian War. He was later elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was named a delegate to the Continental Con ...
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Fort LeBoeuf
Fort Le Bœuf (often referred to as Fort de la Rivière au Bœuf) was a fort established by the French during 1753 on a fork of French Creek (in the drainage area of the River Ohio), in present-day Waterford, in northwest Pennsylvania. The fort was part of a line that included Fort Presque Isle, Fort Machault, and Fort Duquesne. The fort was located about from the shores of Lake Erie, on the banks of LeBoeuf Creek, for which the fort was named. The French portaged supplies and trade goods from Lake Erie overland to Fort Le Bœuf. From there they traveled by raft and canoe down French Creek to the rivers Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi. Today, the site of the fort is occupied by the Fort LeBoeuf Museum, operated by the Fort LeBoeuf Historical Society. History Captain Paul Marin de la Malgue began construction on 11 July 1753; Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre began command of the fort on 3 December 1753. This fort was the second of a series of posts that the French built betw ...
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James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was the last president of the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation; his presidency coincided with the Era of Good Feelings, concluding the First Party System era of American politics. He is perhaps best known for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, a policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas while effectively asserting U.S. dominance, empire, and hegemony in the hemisphere. He also served as governor of Virginia, a member of the United States Senate, U.S. ambassador to France and Britain, the seventh Secretary of State, and the eighth Secretary of War. Born into a slave-owning planter family in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After studying ...
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Youghiogheny River Lake
The Youghiogheny River Lake is a flood control reservoir in southwestern Pennsylvania and western Maryland. The lake is a significant tourist attraction, bringing over one million visitors a year to the area. The lake was formed in 1944 by the damming of the Youghiogheny River upstream from Confluence, Pennsylvania. Youghiogheny Dam is an earthen structure, high and long at its crest, owned and operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The reservoir's normal surface area is about , and it has a maximum capacity of , although its normal storage level is . The dam facilitates flood control, improves river flow and provides 12 megawatts of hydroelectric power. U.S. Route 40 crosses the lake between Jockey Hollow on the Fayette County side and Somerfield on the Somerset County side. Somerfield was laid out on the western edge of Addison Township, Somerset County, about 1816 by Philip D. Smyth, who originally named the settlement Smythfield. Somerfield was abandoned ...
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Stone Arch Bridges In The United States
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's outer solid layer, the crust, and most of its interior, except for the liquid outer core and pockets of magma in the asthenosphere. The study of rocks involves multiple subdisciplines of geology, including petrology and mineralogy. It may be limited to rocks found on Earth, or it may include planetary geology that studies the rocks of other celestial objects. Rocks are usually grouped into three main groups: igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are formed when magma cools in the Earth's crust, or lava cools on the ground surface or the seabed. Sedimentary rocks are formed by diagenesis and lithification of sediments, which in turn are formed by the weathering, transport, and deposition of existing rocks. M ...
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Bridges In Somerset County, Pennsylvania
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually something that is otherwise difficult or impossible to cross. There are many different designs of bridges, each serving a particular purpose and applicable to different situations. Designs of bridges vary depending on factors such as the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed and anchored, and the material used to make it, and the funds available to build it. The earliest bridges were likely made with fallen trees and stepping stones. The Neolithic people built boardwalk bridges across marshland. The Arkadiko Bridge (dating from the 13th century BC, in the Peloponnese) is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use. Etymology The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' traces the origin of the ...
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