Rochester-Bridgewater Bridge over Beaver River near Ohio River

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Street View, Jul 2024

HistoricBridges
"This is a very impressive Parker through truss with a pony truss approach span. The Rochester-Bridgewater Bridge has excellent historic integrity with no noteworthy alterations. This bridge's unusual span arrangement from east to west consists of a short through truss span, long through truss span, and pony truss span. Local urban legend apparently claims that this design was to make the bridge look like the shape of a beaver, since it crosses the Beaver River. This is likely just a tale. The design of each span is a result of what the bridge is crossing which includes both the Beaver River and a railroad."
Nathan goes on to explain that these trusses are examples of Pennsylvania's standard plans for short, medium and long trusses.

Climbing Skies posted
Looking up the Beaver River, from near the confluence, with Bridgewater on the left and Rochester on the right during a summer morning in Beaver County, PA.

The background bridge is this bridge. The foreground bridge is the NS/Pennsy Bridge, and the one in the middle is the PA-51 Bridge.

Climbing Skies posted
Looking up at some of the bridges spanning the Beaver River near the confluence with the Ohio River in Beaver County, PA.

Bob Couch: I once heard that the furthest bridge was constructed to resemble a beaver. (head, body, tail)

Climbing Skies: Bob Couch Yes you can see it in this image. The head is by Rochester and the longer tail is by Bridgewater