East Octoraro #1 Bridge (1910-2020)

East Octoraro #1 Bridge (1910-2020). . In 1907, after 25 years of effort, the residents of Chester and Lancaster Counties successfully petitioned their respective Courts of Quarter Sessions for a new bridge crossing the East Branch Octoraro Creek at this location, replacing a ca. 1840, badly worn wooden bridge located immediately upstream. Following a well-attended bridge view on December 19, 1907, a two span, through girder bridge measuring 76 feet in length and 24 feet in width was designed by Lancaster County engineer Frank W. Shaw and built by Andrew Buchanan of Chambersburg. The bridge was not to be made of stone, metal, or wood, but a new architectural material promoted for its durability and strength: reinforced concrete. The dismantling of the wooden bridge began in September 1909 and the new, East Octoraro #1 Bridge was completed in 1910. Recognized as one of the two earliest examples of its type still standing in Lancaster County, the East Octoraro #1 Bridge was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. In 2020, the 110-year old bridge required replacement due to severe structural deterioration as well as a need to meet standard safety measures., Public Notice , --of-- , Bridge View , . Public Notice is hereby given that the Viewers appointed by the Courts of Quarter Sessions of Lancaster County and of Chester County, To View and Locate an , Inter-County Bridge , To be Erected over Octoraro Creek,. Being the line of Lancaster and Chester Counties, at a place where said creek is crossed on the County line on the public highway leading from Nine Points, Lancaster County, to Atglen, Chester County, and intersecting at a point south of Atglen with the Cochranville and Atglen public road, the Township of Sadsbury, Lancaster County, being the location of the proposed western terminus of said bridge, and the Township of West Fallowfield, Chester County, being the location of the proposed eastern terminus of said bridge. Will meet at the Bridge on , Thursday, Dec. 19, 1907. At 11 clock a. m., when and where all persons interested may attend if they see proper., Joseph Miller, ----- Viewers appointed by the , M. L. Creider, ----- Court of Quarter Sessions , Jacob R. Rutter, --- of Lancaster County, Charles H. Ash, ---- Viewers appointed by the , E. D. Baldwin, ---- Court of Quarter Sessions , H. Craham Rambo, --- of Chester County, The New Era Printing Company, Lancaster, PA., Upper Left: 1901 map showing the location of the wooden predecessor of the East Octoraro Bridge #1 (Courtesy of LancasterHistory.org), Lower Left: Photograph of East Octoraro Bridge #1, May 1998 (From Pennsylvania Historic Bridge Inventory and Evaluation Form, A.G. Lichtenstein and Associates, Inc. 2001)), Right: Public Notice of Bridge View, from Original Bridge Papers (On file at Chester County Archives) , Lancaster County Commissioners: Chairman Joshua G. Parsons, Vice Chair Ray D'Agostino, Commissioner Craig E. Lehman