Читать книгу Bartram Covered Bridge: Spanning History - George D. Conn - Страница 11

Although Bartram Bridge is the only covered bridge left in Delaware County, it was, at one time, one of about three dozen such structures in the county. Due mainly to the rapid urbanization of the county as a close suburb of Philadelphia, most of Delaware County’s covered bridges were replaced in the 1920s. The rest were removed in the 1930s. When the Llewellyn Bridge in Aston, PA was replaced in 1939, Bartram Bridge stood as the lone covered bridge in the county.

However, few people realize that one of Delaware County’s other covered bridges was also named Bartram Bridge. It carried Providence Road over the Crum Creek just west of the current dam. It was a Burr arch truss bridge that measured approximately 70 feet in length. Located on the border between Marple and Upper Providence Townships, that Bartram Bridge was replaced sometime before 1931. Around 1931 the area where the bridge was located was flooded and is now under Springton Reservoir. Thomas Kipphorn, a noted expert on covered bridges, believes that the bridge had probably been replaced by the time the area was flooded.

Although the two bridges had the same name, they were quite different in design. The photo above, originally taken in the 1920s or 1930s by James Rathmell, shows two distinctive features of the “other” Bartram Bridge. Unlike the remaining Bartram Bridge with its two small windows centered on each side, the “other” Bartram Bridge had windows that ran the full length of the bridge. The portals, too, are quite different, with the “other” Bartram Bridge having had a two “step” portal.