Pusey Mill Road Bridge

Information and Findings From Pennsylvania's Historic Bridge Inventory

Discussion of Bridge

The one span, 29'-long, steel stringer bridge, built in 1915, has a concrete jack arch deck, pipe railings, stone abutments and stone wingwalls with stone parapets. Over 110 examples of steel stringer with concrete jack arch deck bridges have been identified statewide from 1905 to 1956, with approximately 20 dating to before 1915. They enjoyed a period of popularity during the mid 1910s in Chester County under the direction of County Engineer Nathan R. Rambo, who favored the design because of its simplicity, compactness, and economy. The county has 14 identified examples from 1913 to 1918, more than any other county in the state. Complete, prototypical examples from before 1915 are considered significant in the Chester County context, reflecting the local application of national thinking about bridge technology and design. This 1915 example is not historically or technologically distinguished by its setting or context.

Discussion of Surrounding Area

The bridge carries a 2 lane road over a stream in a rural setting with a scattered mix of 19th to late-20th-century residences. To each of the bridge's quadrants are open fields. More than 1000' to the east is a new residential subdivision. Approximately the same distance to the west is a 19th-century farmhouse with numerous additions. Located more than 500' to the south is US 1, a four-lane median divided highway. The setting does not have the cohesiveness or integrity of a potential historic district.

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: No