Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3 | |
|---|---|
 View from southeast in January 1996, with flood damage | |
| Coordinates | 41°24′32″N 76°48′10″W / 41.40889°N 76.80278°W[1] |
| Carries | State Route 1005 |
| Crosses | Plunketts Creek |
| Locale | Lycoming, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Official name | Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3 (HAER) |
| Other name(s) | Bridge in Plunketts Creek Township (NRHP) |
| Named for | Plunketts Creek |
| Maintained by | Pennsylvania Department of Transportation |
| HAER Number | PA-418[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Historic American Engineering Record, National Register of Historic Places |
| Total length | 75 ft (23 m)[2] |
| Width | 15.25 ft (4.65 m)[2] |
| History | |
| Built | between 1840 and 1875 |
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| MPS | Highway Bridges Owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 88000830 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 22, 1988 |
| Removed from NRHP | July 22, 2002 |
| Location | |
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Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3 was a rubble masonry stone arch bridge over Plunketts Creek in Plunketts Creek Township, Lycoming County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built between 1840 and 1875, probably closer to 1840, when the road along the creek between the unincorporated villages of Barbours and Proctor was constructed. Going upstream from the mouth, the bridge was the third to cross the creek, hence its name.
The bridge was 75 feet (23 m) long, with an arch that spanned 44 feet (13 m), a deck 18 feet 8 inches (5.69 m) wide, and a roadway width of 15 feet 3 inches (4.65 m). It carried a single lane of traffic. In the 19th century, the bridge and its road were used by the lumber, leather, and coal industries active along the creek. By the early 20th century, these industries had almost entirely left, and the villages declined. The area the bridge served reverted mostly to second growth forest and it was used to access Pennsylvania State Game Lands and a state pheasant farm.
Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3 was considered "significant as an intact example of mid-19th century stone arch bridge construction",[2] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on June 22, 1988. Although it was repaired after a major flood in 1918, a record flood on January 21, 1996, severely damaged the bridge, and it was demolished in March 1996. Before the 1996 flood about 450 vehicles crossed it each day. Later that year, a replacement bridge was built and the old stone structure was documented by the Historic American Engineering Record. It was removed from the NRHP on July 22, 2002.