The Carl E. Stotz Memorial Little League Bridge, formerly known as the Market Street Bridge, carries approximately 27,700 vehicles a day on

U.S. Route 15 U.S. Route 15 or U.S. Highway 15 (US 15) is a United States Numbered Highway, serving the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from US ...

over the

West Branch Susquehanna River The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the ex ...

between Williamsport and South Williamsport in

Lycoming County Lycoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 114,188. Its county seat is Williamsport. The county is part of the North Central region of the commonwealth. Lycoming County compris ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is the seventh bridge on the site and was built at a cost of over $60,000,000. In October 2007 the new northbound bridge over the river and the new "direct connect"

single-point urban interchange A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic th ...

with Interstate 180 was completed and opened to traffic. The overall project, which included the reconstruction of Via Bella, was completed in summer 2008.

History

The Carl E. Stotz Memorial Little League Bridge is the seventh

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

to span the West Branch Susquehanna River between Williamsport and South Williamsport at Market Street since the 1840s. It was built to replace the sixth Market Street Bridge, a steel deck structure which the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT ...

originally intended to rehabilitate and widen. When this proved to be unfeasible, plans for a new bridge were put into place. The first permanent bridge between was constructed beginning in 1844 and completed on July 5, 1849 (prior to its completion

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

boat service was available). This first Market Street Bridge, a wooden

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

, cost $23,797 to construct. It was owned by a private corporation, operated it as a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

, and stood until March 17, 1865, when it was destroyed by a

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

that left 90 percent of Williamsport underwater. The second Market Street Bridge opened on December 1, 1865, and was a wire

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

built for $58,068. The bridge was dismantled in 1886. It was also owned by a private corporation. The bridge, redesigned by Alfred P. Boller in 1886, was apparently a unique looking structure that caused some embarrassment to the owners. The third Market Street Bridge was built in 1886 at a cost of $30,000 to $40,000. It was an iron

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 ...

built by the Berlin Iron Company of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. It was partially destroyed by a flood on June 1, 1889, when the bridge was forced off its piers by

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

that was swept down the river. This came from the Susquehanna Boom, part of the lumbering industry that helped make Williamsport one of the wealthiest cities in the world during the late 1800s. The fourth Market Street Bridge was built upon the piers of the third bridge, using parts of the third truss bridge that had been swept downstream in 1889. The fourth bridge was opened in 1890 at a cost of $38,000, and was purchased in 1891 by the

commissioners for $113,700, who declared to be free of tolls. Improvements to the bridge included raising it by 5 feet (1.5 m) and adding a sidewalk for pedestrian traffic. The fourth Market Street Bridge was destroyed by a flood on May 21, 1894. The West Branch Susquehanna River was spanned by a fifth Market Street Bridge from 1894 until 1949. The two lane truss bridge was built by the Crofton Bridge and Manufacturing Company of Croton,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. The bridge was nearly destroyed in 1909 when a discarded

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

set a fire among the wooden planks of the bridge. Market Street Bridge number five was

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

d into the river and dismantled in 1949. Market Street Bridge number six was a steel deck bridge. Construction was completed in 1951 at a cost of over $3,000,000. The sixth bridge was constructed by George Vang Inc. of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. It was dynamited and dismantled in 2007.

Construction

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced its plans for the seventh Market Street Bridge in the year 2000. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new bridge was held on May 7, 2004, with the actual construction beginning on May 10. The original estimated cost of the project was $60,000,000. The new bridge was built as two spans, with the southbound span constructed first, just west (upstream) of the sixth bridge. The southbound bridge was opened to traffic on July 11, 2006. In August 2006, the old Market Street bridge was demolished. After the demolition of the old bridge, the southbound bridge carried traffic in both directions as single lanes separated by a temporary concrete barrier. Meanwhile, the new northbound span was built in the same location as the old bridge, just east (downstream) of the southbound span. The northbound bridge opened to traffic on October 10, 2007, originally as a single lane. There were two lanes of traffic in both directions on the bridge by October 15, 2007, the day that three of the four "direct connect" ramps between Interstate 180 and the bridge officially opened. The

traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

s controlling the new

were activated the same day, and the last ramp, from the bridge to westbound I-180, opened by October 18. (The ramp from eastbound I-180 to the bridge had been open over a year, but only to traffic then going south.) The new Market Street Bridge was officially dedicated on October 18, 2007, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony with speeches by Mayor Mary B. Wolf of Williamsport, Lycoming County Commissioner Rebecca Burke, State Senator Roger A. Madigan, State Representative Steven W Capelli, and others. The bridge was renamed in August 2011 to honor Carl Stotz, the founder of Little League Baseball. In addition to the river, Carl E. Stotz Memorial Little League Bridge crosses Via Bella, the street parallel to the river, I-180, and the

Lycoming Valley Railroad The Lycoming Valley Railroad is a short line that operates of track in Lycoming and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. It is part of the North Shore Railroad System. The line runs generally west between Muncy (in Lycomi ...

(LVRR) on the Williamsport side, and the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

on the South Williamsport side. Participants in the ribbon-cutting ceremony rode to it in restored passenger cars on the LVRR line. The LVRR track was moved several feet south to accommodate the new bridge. As of summer 2008, roadwork on the project was complete, but some final touches were still planned for the site. The Court Street roundabout will be the site of a negative

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

sculpture depicting scenes from the history of Williamsport and Lycoming County, and will serve as a "welcome portal" to the city. The new bridge has pedestrian ramps to the flood control levee on the north bank of the river. This will be developed into a "river walk" attraction. The final cost of the new bridge and associated construction is expected to be $67 million, about 12% over the original budget.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Penndot website

Historic photos of the Market Street Bridge
Bridges in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Road bridges in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Williamsport, Pennsylvania Former toll bridges in Pennsylvania U.S. Route 15 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Concrete bridges in the United States Bridges over the Susquehanna River

History

Construction

See also

References

External links