1835+1947 Pedestrian Bridge over Delaware River & Canal at Lumberville, PA

1835: (Archived Bridge Hunter broken link; Bridge Hunter)

1947: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

The trail under the bridge was the towpath of the Delaware Canal

Street View, Oct 2013

Michael Quartararo posted

Lumberville-Raven Rock Pedestrian Bridge of the Delaware River'

Lumberville, Pennsylvania

The canal had water when this photo was taken.

Phto by Raymond Klein via BridgeHunter_1947

The piers and abutments are from the previous covered bridge.

BridgeHutner_1835

The steel span was added in 1903. [ArchivedBridgeHunter_1946]

BridgeHutner_1835

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.

1814+1904,2004 Bridge Street Bridges over Delaware River between New Hope and Lambertville

1814 Covered Bridge: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)

1904 Truss Bridge: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Street View, Dec 2021

This 1,053' (321m) long bridge has six spans of 171' (52m). [HistoricBridges]

Peter Moreno posted
New Hope PA -Lambertville NJ Bridge crossing the Delaware River.

Janet Kacewich: Love that bridge- it’s fun to walk across it.

HistoricBridges labels it as pin-connected Pratt truss.

Street View, May 2023

Photo by Raymond Klein via BridgeHunter_1904

1904 was still in the horse and buggy days, so streetcars were important.

BridgeHunter_1904

The truss bridge replaced a covered bridge.

BridgeHunter_1814

BridgeHunter_1814

BridgeHunter_1814

1936,1979 Main Street Bridge over Susquehanna River in Sidney, NY, 2006 Flood and I-88 Collapse

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

I-88 Collapse at Carrs Creek: (Satellite)

Delaware County Historical Association, NY posted

Today in Local History:

June 27 - 29, 2006 - Serious flooding affects region. 

Up to 14 inches of rain falls in Susquehanna Valley. Sidney, NY is seriously damaged and truckers are killed on flooded Interstate 88.

Photo shows a flooding Susquehanna River at Sidney.

Margaret Dyer: I remember that, it shut down roads and businesses. Plus, I88 collapsed.

[A collapse explains how trucks got wiped out. See some more comments at the bottom of these notes.]

This 385' (117m) long bridge has three spans of 125' (38m). [HistoricBridges]

The sandbar and shrubs would have been under water.

Street View, Oct 2015

The south span is now normally over land.

HistoricBridges

But the river channel used to go all the way to the south abutment.

BridgeHunter, 1942 image from a postcard
"This is an excellent example of a state standard pony truss presented in a less-common multi-span configuration. Although the height was increased with a steel tube added, the original sidewalk railing itself also remains intact on this bridge."

The thing that caught my eye in the description was "I-88." Did they run out of even numbers above 80 because Illinois also has an I-88. It is the East/West Tollroad. It was designated IL-5 when it was built. But then the speed limit was reduced to 55mph. Later, when they allowed higher speeds on Interstate highways, the route designation was changed from IL-5 to I-88 since it was built with Interstate highway standards.

Road Map

I added the "wwPA" label to these notes because I think of the Susquehanna River as a Pennsylvania river. When I remembered this town was in NY, I checked out how the river flows through Pennsylvania. A quick look at a map confirmed that the river flows across the Allegheny Mountains. I followed the river on a satellite map to see how it got across the mountains. Then I found this map that shows the route. The red symbol in the upper-right corner marks Sidney. The river flows West, and then East and then back West before it goes South and Southeast through a little bit of Maryland into the top of the Chesapeake Bay.

LivingAtlas

Glenn Skinner commented on the post at the top of these notes
I remember it well, this was my BIG truck & rescued pets, pulled floating cars out of the streets and much more. My truck here has bird cages in cab & gentlemen & his dog in the back.

Glenn Skinner commented on the post at the top of these notes
This was Carrs creek where one of the trucker's boxes ended up.

Mark Roberts: Glenn Skinner The tractor went under and out the outside. I remember seeing after they pulled it out, it looked like a ball of tin foil. 😢

Several comments on the post talked about the road closures. I didn't think much about it when I read them because I figured the water would soon go back down. But this document shows that some of the closures would have lasted for a while because they were closed because they were gone.

In the case of I-88, the culvert could not handle the flow. David Swingle and Patrick O'Connell were the truckers who lost their lives. [GribbleNation_1_year_later]

NYDOT, p1

The culvert wasn't just a couple of pipes; it was a concrete structure because another source talked about the state was planning on refurbishing the concrete floor of the culvert. And we can see remnants of the concrete walls in the disaster photos.

GribbleNation, Jim McKnight/AP
"You can see the remnants of the culvert in the center of the quiet stream turned rapids. The box trailer that is shown falling into the water would flow a mile downstream crashing into a bridge that carries NY 7 over the same creek."

This photo was taken soon after the collapse. GribbleNation stated that the erosion eventually took out the exit sign that we still see in this photo. Also, the water level is still quite high. Cars can turn around and go back to the nearest exit to get off the road. But how do you turn an 18-wheeler around on a 2-lane highway?

ResearchGate

However, the completion of a new culvert did not end the problems for I-88 at Carrs Creek. Earlier this year, NYSDOT had to let a contract to replace 8500 cubic yards of polystyrene fill that was used in the construction of the new structure. The fill was structurally failing as the new roadway began to sag. The fill is to be replaced by "expanded shale" at a cost of $1.1 million. The project is to end in July.

[GribbleNation_1_year_later]

The polystyrene fill will be replaced by an "expanded shale" fill. The fill will come from a process that heats shale rock to 1000 degrees. A description by the DOT of the expanded shale is "The layers in the rock expand like popcorn and are baked by the heat, producing a material that is light, stable and strong."

On top of the fill will be three feet of asphalt.

[GribbleNation_fill_replacement]

1931 Lock and Dam #8 on Allegheny River near Templeton, PA

(Satellite)

ebreedon, Jul 2017

It has a hydroelectric plant. But I could not find the capacity of the plant.

Sara Sweeney, Aug 2022

April 2025 Flood

Navigation is suspended at 14.2'. [USACE Pittsburgh District post]

However, this lock is "in a caretaker status," so it is probably not heavily used anyhow. [usace]

USGS

1894+1966,2000 Glenwood Bridges over Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, PA

1894: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter) 

1966: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; pghbridges; Satellite)

1894 Bridge

 

1964 Photo from Pittsburgh Bridges via ArchivedBridgeHunter_1894, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted

Old Glenwood Bridge over the Monongahela River near the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

(Photo from Blaine Stanziana via https://www.facebook.com/groups/132768683480072/)

Patrick Boyle: This was the last deck before demolition. The streetcar tracks are gone.

Andrew Simko: We were driving over it in my friend’s old car when one of the boards came up through the rear floor.

Ed Falvo commented on the above post

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum posted
To a day of transit service in Pittsburgh, back in September 1963. This particular photograph shows a PCC car on the wooden decked Glenwood bridge, crossing the Monongahela River and moving inbound on the 56 line. (Photo from Ray Berger's Collection)

1966 Bridge

HistoricBridges
"This bridge is unusual because most of the trusses are below deck except at the piers where they rise up forming a through truss design."
This 2276' (394m) long bridge has a main span of 567' (173m).

pghbridges
"Its form is unusual hybrid: primarily a deck-type truss, but the panels are enlarged as they meet the piers. The top chord curves above the deck, but the side trusses are connected only at the vertical support above the piers. This upper cross-brace appears to be mostly cosmetic as the bracing below the deck is much more substantial."

That is the B&O Glenwood Bridge #73 in the right background of this view.

Street View, Nov 2024

1956 I-95/PA+NJ Turnpike Bridge over Delaware River near Florence, NJ

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

This arch-truss bridge has a length of 6571' (2km, 1 1/4 mile) and a main span of 682' (208m). [BridgeHunter]

Street View, May 2022

Photo from Wikimedia Commons via BridgeHunter

Metrotrails posted
PA Turnpike bridge seen from the Florence NJ side, Delaware River
Metrotrails shared

Michael E Pearson added
The Delaware River-Turnpike Toll Bridge carries Interstate 95 across the Delaware River via a 1956 built, 682 foot [208m] steel arch span; with a total length of 6751 feet [2km], connecting the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpikes between Bucks and Burlington Counties in PA & NJ respectively. This was not a low pass drone shot, but rather, it was handheld from onboard a boat.

I think it is more accurate to call it a continuous truss instead of an arch truss. I wondered why Historic Bridges didn't document this bridge because Nathan is better at identifying a continuous truss. So, I took a closer look at a gusset plate. It uses bolts instead of rivets. Bolts are Nathan's criteria for a modern bridge instead of a historic bridge. This bridge must be bleeding edge in terms of using bolts. You can see it is a transition of technology because it uses rivets instead of welds to build the beams. (Update: Jon H comments below that the bolts were probably used during an upgrade. It was probably built with rivets. Jon also mentioned that I-95 was rerouted to this bridge in the mid 2000's.)

Street View, Sep 2023

I knew the Pennsy Turnpike was I-76 in the Pittsburgh area. I didn't know where the turnpike crossed the Delaware River so I followed I-76 east across the state. When I found myself down in Philadelphia on the Walt Whitman Bridge, I knew that the turnpike must divert to some other Interstate in the east. So I found this map and determined that it goes from I-76 to I-276 and then to I-95 just before the river. 

paturnpike

Just two lanes in each direction carries the east/west traffic of the turnpike and the north/south traffic of I-95. I confirmed that they squeeze three lanes down to two before the bridge. I wonder how much congestion that choke point causes.

Satellite

1974 Raystown Dam on Raystown Branch Juniata River near Huntington, PA

(Satellite)

I found statistics about  the lake (usace), but not the dam.

Facebook Reel

May 15, 2025: 

Raystown Lake, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers posted

𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 

Effective immediately, Snyder’s Run, Aitch, James Creek, Shy Beaver and Weaver Falls are closed until further notice due to lake level rise.

As of May 15, 2025 at 0700, the lake elevation is 788.68 ft and slowly rising. Inflow from Saxton is 15,400 cubic feet per second (cfs) and falling 500 cfs per hour. 

We expect the lake to crest sometime this evening.

All three tainter gates at the Raystown Lake Spillway are currently open and releasing 15,500 cfs. 

Closures Summary...

-Snyder's Run

-Aitch

-James Creek

-Shy Beaver

-Weaver Falls 

Seven Points Boat Launch is open and not expected to close. If you go out on the lake, please be careful and watch for debris that may be partially or fully submerged.

Remember to alway wear your life jacket when out on the lake.

Stay tuned for more information as lake levels fall and launches are re opened.

[Some comments indicated that the normal lake level is 786. I'm surprised that a launch can't handle a rise of less than 3' (1m).]

Rick Forrest, Mar 2024

It looks like there is a "ski jump" near the end of the spillway. 

Abram, Apr 2024
This photo is a scene from this video.

Marlene, May 2024

The lake is long and skinny.

Satellite

PA-994 (Old Plank Road) had to be moved to accommodate the reservoir.