Gervais Street Bridge

Coordinates: 33 ° 59 ′ 42 "  N , 81 ° 3 ′ 11"  W.

Gervais Street Bridge
Picture of the bridge from 1986
Convicted	US Highway 1 , US Highway 378
Subjugated	Congaree River
place	Columbia , South Carolina
construction	Arched bridge made of reinforced concrete
overall length	431 m
building-costs	$ 597,167
start of building	June 1926
completion	February 1928
planner	Charles C. Randolph, Joseph W. Barnwell
location

The Gervais Street Bridge is a historic road bridge in Columbia , South Carolina in the United States . The reinforced concrete arch bridge was built between 1926 and 1928. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980 .

The structure is the third bridge over the Congaree River at this point. The first bridge was built around 1827 and burned down during the Civil War . The new building from 1870 was finally replaced by the current structure. At the time, the bridge was the widest road structure in the state. It remained the only bridge over this river until 1953.

architecture

The bridge is a arch bridge of reinforced concrete with open interstices . The road over it is flanked by sidewalks on both sides . On the balustrades on the sides of the bridge sit green-painted, cast-iron lanterns, the fastening elements of which are marked with a C and palmettos . The octagonal base of the column is decorated with vine leaf motifs, and the cross-section reductions are adorned with acanthus foliage . The structure is one of four reinforced concrete bridges in South Carolina with open spandrels and also the oldest and most lavishly decorated of the three bridges that cross the Congaree River.

geography

The Gervais Street Bridge is located in Columbia, South Carolina. It leads US Highway 1 and US Highway 378 over the Congaree River and connects Gervais Street on the east bank with Meeting Street on the west bank of the river within the city. The bridge forms the supraregional connection of Columbia with the southern and western parts of the state. The bridge lies just a little below the point where the Broad River and Saluda River combine to form the Congaree River.

history

The structure is the third bridge that was built at this point; the remains of the two previous structures can still be seen directly north of today's Gervais Street Bridge.

The first structure was a wooden structure. The Columbia Bridge Company was established in 1819, and construction of the bridge was completed around 1827. Although early Columbian urban planners intended Senate Street and Assembly Street to be the two main thoroughfares of the city, for engineering reasons the bridge over the Congaree River was built at the head of Gervais Street, and traffic bypassed Senate Street. This then became a residential area, while Gervais Street concentrated trade and commerce; this effect was later intensified with the arrival of the built railway lines.

The Confederate States Army burned the first bridge towards the end of the Civil War in 1865 to delay the advance of General William T. Sherman's troops . The second bridge was built in 1870 and was privately owned until 1912. Then it was purchased by the Richland County Administration in cooperation with Lexington County .

The construction work on the present structure lasted from February 1926 to June 1928. The structure was designed by the bridge engineer of the State Highway Department, Joseph W. Barnwell from Charleston , the construction company was the Hardaway Contracting Company from Columbus , Georgia .

When the structure was completed, the widest stretch of road in the state crossed the bridge. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 25, 1980 as part of the Historic Resources of Columbia MPS .

supporting documents

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Gervais Street Bridge, Richland County ( English ) South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
2. ↑ Vennie Deas-Moore: Scenes from Columbia's Riverbanks . The History Press, 2008, ISBN 9781596293625 , pp. 30-31.
3. ^ ^{A b c} Tom Elmore: Columbia Civil War Landmarks . The History Press, 2011, ISBN 9781609491215 , p. 30.
4. ^ ^{A b} John Morrill Bryan: An Architectural History of the South Carolina College, 1801-1855 . University of South Carolina Press, 1976, p. 9.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Completed Multiple Property Submission form ( English , PDF; 6.8 MB) National Park Service . Retrieved August 20, 2012.