-Upper Slate Run Bridge, Slate Run, Pennsylvania

Welcome back to another edition of History in Your Own Backyard. I'm Sotoli. Today I'm in central Pennsylvania where I came across the Upper Slate Bridge. Stay tuned and we'll check this baby out. The Upper Slate Run Bridge near Slate Run, Pennsylvania was built in 1890 by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company of East Berlin, Connecticut. The bridge is 207 feet long, spans Pine Creek, and was rehabbed in 1950 and again around 1999. This is an extremely rare bridge on several levels. First, it's a lattice truss bridge, which means that it uses many small closely spaced diagonal elements to form a lattice. Secondly, this is a quintuple intersection Warren truss bridge where the diagonals between the upper and lower cords intersect five panel points which is normally seen only on railroad bridges. This is almost unheard of on a vehicular bridge. Third, this is among one of the oldest riveted highway truss bridges still standing in the state of Pennsylvania. The bridge is highly decorated, still retains the build plaque, and sits in a beautiful isolated valley. The bridge does not meet modern engineering standards such as bridge width and approach exit geometry. However, it is located in such a rural area and receives such little traffic, approximately 200 vehicles per day, that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has decided to leave the bridge and the alignments alone, rather than try to update the roadway or even replace the bridge. Thanks for watching another edition of History in Your Own Backyard, and remember, travel slowly and stop often. I'll see you next time!