The Colossus Bridge – also known as Fairmount Bridge, Colossus of Fairmount or Upper Ferry Bridge (and formally as the Lancaster Schuylkill Bridge) – was a record-setting

timber bridge A timber bridge or wooden bridge is a bridge that uses timber or wood as its principal structural material. One of the first forms of bridge, those of timber have been used since ancient times. History The most ancient form of timber bridge is ...

across the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

near

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. It was built in 1812 by

Louis Wernwag Louis Wernag (December 4, 1769 in Altenburg, Württemberg, Holy Roman Empire – August 12, 1843 in Hapers Ferry, Virginia) was a bridge builder in the United States in the early 19th century. Early life On leaving school, in order to evade mili ...

, and was considered his finest bridge design. It had a clear span of and the longest single-span wooden truss to be erected in the United States as well as the first long span bridge to use iron rods. Caption of the 1823 engraving shown at right:

THE UPPER FERRY BRIDGE.
Over the River Schuylkill near Morris street in the County of Philadelphia, chord of arch 340 feet, whole extent of Bridge 400 feet, rise of Arch 20 feet, elevation above water 30 feet, the span is greater by 98 feet than that of any other Bridge known, the Construction is in general new, the principle invented by Lewis Wernwag, who was afsisted in the execution by Jos.h Johnson, general design by Rob.t Mills, Architect.

The bridge was destroyed September 1, 1838, by fire. The bridge was succeeded by Charles Ellet Jr.'s 1842 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 ...

, followed by the 1875 Callowhill Street

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 ...

. The modern bridge at this site is the 1965

Spring Garden Street Bridge Spring Garden Street Bridge is a highway bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It crosses the Schuylkill River below Fairmount Dam and connects West Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It is the fourth ...

. The bridge was located near . File:Fairmount Waterworks 1835 (cropped).jpg, "Schuylkill Waterworks" (1835), with "The Colossus" in the background. File:A View of Fairmount and the Waterworks by John Rubens Smith 1835.jpg, "A View of Fairmount and the Waterworks" (1835) by John Rubens Smith. File:AmCyc Bridge - Schuylkill Bridge.jpg, Diagram with section showing internals.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Bridges over the Schuylkill River Road bridges in Pennsylvania Wooden bridges in Pennsylvania Arch bridges in the United States Covered bridges in Pennsylvania Covered bridges in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia