|
On August 8, 1913, the Town
Council authorized consultation with the County
Courts about constructing a new bridge of
concrete. In February 1914, the Greenbrier
County Court ordered the Town of Alderson to
repair the old iron bridge. Town Council was
indignant and flatly refused saying the town had
not built the old bridge, had no authority to
repair the bridge, that townspeople had paid
taxes to help build all other county bridges,
and finally the river was not the property of
the town, but was State property.
In April 1914, the County Courts of Greenbrier
and Monroe agreed to build a new bridge without
sidewalks. On May 5, 1914, Mayor McNeer issued a
proclamation for a bond issue election of from
$2,000.00 to $3,000.00 to be held May 26. the
vote was 191 for, 2 against, for one sidewalk,
and 186 for, 2, against, for two sidewalks. The
Concrete Steel Bridge Co., Clarksburg, W. Va.,
had a contract to build the bridge for
$20,600.00. On October 30, 1914, a contract was
made with the company to build the two sidewalks
for $2900.00. So, the roadway belonged to the
State and the sidewalks belonged to the town.
Frank Duff McEnteer, who
was to become a well-known and respected
engineer in West Virginia and surrounding areas,
was president of the Concrete Steel Bridge
Company and designed the Alderson Bridge. When
construction of the concrete bridge began on
June 21, 1914, he was present to see that the
job was started right.
The old iron bridge was
used by the contractors as a platform to pour
the arches of the new bridge and to facilitate
the movement of pedestrians. A fund of 96.05 was
raised among the businessmen to build the
footbridge seen in the foreground. Vehicular
traffic used the old ford near the hotel. Lucky
the river was low that summer. Following Mr.
McEnteer’s design, the stone piers of the old
iron bridge were used as the piers of the
concrete bridge. A one foot thick concrete
jacket was poured around the existing piers to
strengthen them and to create aesthetic
continuity with the rest of the bridge. The
arches and roadway were made of concrete forms
filled with dirt and gravel.
When completed in November 1914,
it was the longest earth-filled, reinforced
concrete arch bridge in West Virginia, the third
largest concrete arch bridge in the state, and
the pride of the town. Today, it is the only
concrete arch bridge remaining in West Virginia.
(Note: There is confusion
on the price of the construction of the bridge.
Since this history
comes from the Greenbrier Historical Society's
history of Alderson, I transcribed it word for
word. Not sure who made the error or what the
actual price was._ Barry Worrell)
|
