Spring Garden Street Bridge

1st bridge: The Colossus

As early as 1693, a ferry operated, crossing the Schuylkill River at Fairmount, the hill on which the Philadelphia Museum of Art now stands. Being upstream of the others, this was called the Upper Ferry.

For the Upper Ferry site, bridge builder Louis Wernwag designed and built a single-span laminated timber arch—known as the "Colossus of Fairmount," the "Upper Ferry Bridge," or the "Lancaster Schuylkill Bridge"—with a clear span of about 340 ft and an overall length of roughly 400 ft; construction began in April 1812, it opened on January 7, 1813, and it was destroyed by fire on September 1, 1838.{{cite journal |last=Griggs |first=Frank E., Jr. |title=Colossus Bridge Designer: Lewis Wernwag |journal=Structure |date=October 2004 |pages=34–36 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719102732/http://www.structuremag.org/OldArchives/2004/october/D-Great%20Achievements-October04-v4.pdf |access-date=2025-11-26}}{{cite report |last=Marston |first=Christopher H. |author2=Christianson, Justin M. |title=Covered Bridges and the Birth of American Engineering |publisher=National Park Service / Federal Highway Administration |series=Special Resource Study |date=2007 |url=https://www.intrans.iastate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2018/09/CoveredBridgesAndTheBirthOfAmericanEngineering.pdf

Thomas Birch painted at least two views of the bridge, and one of them was made into an 1813 engraving by Jacob J. Plocher. This "Upper Ferry Bridge" engraving was copied frequently on Staffordshire china. File:Fairmount Waterworks 1835 (cropped).jpg|"Schuylkill Waterworks" (1835), with "The Colossus" in the background. File:A View of Fairmount and the Waterworks by John Rubens Smith 1835.jpg|"A View of Fairmount and the Waterworks" (1835) by John Rubens Smith.

2nd bridge: Wire Bridge at Fairmount

Five miles upstream from Fairmount, iron manufacturers Josiah White and Erksine Hazard built a wire-cable footbridge in 1816. Though a modest structure – 407 ft in length with a suspended walkway 18 in wide – and a temporary one – it stood for less than a year – the Spider Bridge at Falls of Schuylkill is thought to have been the first wire-cable suspension bridge in history.

Twenty-five years later, permanent wire-cable suspension bridges had been built in France and Switzerland. To replace "The Colossus," Charles Ellet, Jr. designed the first major wire-cable suspension bridge in the United States. The 358 ft "Wire Bridge at Fairmount" was commissioned by the City of Philadelphia, and opened to traffic on January 2, 1842. It had no toll, and stood for over thirty years.

Ellet would go on to design the 1,010 ft Wheeling Suspension Bridge (1847–49); and the first Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge (1847–48), which was abandoned before completion. File:Suspension bridge, Philadelphia, by Kilburn Brothers 2.jpg|Wire Bridge at Fairmount. File:On the Schuylkil (Schuylkill), Pennsylvania, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|Wire Bridge from mouth of Schuylkill Canal. File:Wire bridge, Fairmount, by Newell, R., d. 1897.jpg|Wire Bridge from mouth of Schuylkill Canal. File:Wire bridge at Fairmount (Instantenous), from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|Wire Bridge from Schuylkill River. File:South from River Drive, by Cremer, James, 1821-1893.jpg|Wire Bridge from Boathouse Row. File:Wire bridge on the Schuylkill River, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|Wire Bridge from Boathouse Row.

3rd bridge: Callowhill Street Bridge

The Callowhill Street Bridge was designed by Jacob H. Linville, engineer, and built by the Keystone Bridge Company, 1874–75. A double-decker bridge that carried passengers, vehicles and streetcars on its upper deck and trains (later removed) on its lower, it was a Whipple truss of cast and wrought iron, 350 ft long and 48 ft wide. The arches between the decks were decorative and removed circa 1900; the ornate railings were removed by 1910. It was demolished in 1964. File:1875 Keystone Bridge Company Ad (cropped).jpg|Callowhill Street Bridge in an 1875 advertisement. File:View in Fairmount Park. Lower deck, Callowhill St. bridge, by Hemple, A. H. (Alfred H.).jpg|Callowhill Street Bridge, lower deck. File:Callowhill Street Bridge 1910 (cropped).jpg|Callowhill Street Bridge in 1910.

4th bridge: Spring Garden Street Bridge

The current bridge was designed by Richard Wisniewski of Philadelphia, and completed in 1965. It carries West Spring Garden Street over the Pennsylvania Railroad lines, the Schuylkill Expressway, the Schuylkill River, and the Schuylkill River Trail. The West River Drive Bridge crosses diagonally beneath it, carrying the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive over the Schuylkill River. File:Philadelphia skyline August 2007.jpg|Looking southeast from the Spring Garden Street Bridge. File:Spring Garden and West River Bridges.jpg|As seen from a kayak on the Schuylkill River. The Spring Garden Street Bridge is the upper of the two.

Notes

References

References

1. (1884). "History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884". L. H. Everts & Co..
2. {{cite Appletons'
3. Wainwright, Nicholas B.. (1974). "Paintings and Miniatures at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania". HSP.
4. (March 22, 1986). "The Spider Bridge, A Curious Work at the Falls of Schuylkill, 1816". Canal History and Technology Proceedings.
5. (1957). "Bridges and their Builders". Dover.
6. Scharf & Westcott, p. 2145.
7. Crawford, C.. (September 14, 1988). "Callowhill Street Bridge". Library of Congress.