Colossus Bridge (Philadelphia)

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File:Upper Ferry Bridge (cropped).jpg

The Colossus Bridge – also known as Fairmount Bridge, Colossus of Fairmount or Upper Ferry Bridge (and formally as the Lancaster Schuylkill Bridge{{cite journal |last1= Griggs Jr. |first1= F. E. |date= October 2004 |title= Colossus Bridge Designer Lewis Wernwag |journal= STRUCTURE Magazine |url= http://www.structuremag.org/OldArchives/2004/october/D-Great%20Achievements-October04-v4.pdf |pages= 34–36 |access-date= November 26, 2009 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110719102732/http://www.structuremag.org/OldArchives/2004/october/D-Great%20Achievements-October04-v4.pdf |archive-date= July 19, 2011 |df= mdy-all }}) – was a record-setting timber bridge across the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia. It was built in 1812 by Louis Wernwag, and was considered his finest bridge design. It had a clear span of {{convert|340|ft|m|1}} and the longest single-span wooden truss to be erected in the United StatesKapsch, Robert James. Over the Alleghenies: early canals and railroads of Pennsylvania. W. Va. University Press, 2013. as well as the first long span bridge to use iron rods.{{cite book|last=Ryall|first=M. J. |author2=G. A. R. Parke |author3=J. E. Harding |title=The Manual of Bridge Engineering |year= 2000 |publisher=Thomas Telford |isbn= 978-0-7277-2774-9 |pages= 15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8PGk81gtCywC&q=Wernwag+collossus |access-date= April 6, 2008}}

Caption of the 1823 engraving shown at right:

THE UPPER FERRY BRIDGE.
Over the River Schuylkill near Morris street in the County of Philadelphia, chord of arch 340 feet, whole extent of Bridge 400 feet, rise of Arch 20 feet, elevation above water 30 feet, the span is greater by 98 feet than that of any other Bridge known, the Construction is in general new, the principle invented by Lewis Wernwag, who was afsisted in the execution by Jos.h Johnson, general design by Rob.t Mills, Architect.

The bridge was destroyed September 1, 1838, by fire.{{Cite DAB|author=Burr Arthur Robinson|title=Wernwag, Lewis|year=1961}} The bridge was succeeded by Charles Ellet Jr.'s 1842 wire suspension bridge, followed by the 1875 Callowhill Street truss bridge.{{cite book|title= History of Bridge Engineering |last= Tyrrell |first= Henry Grattan |year= 1911 |publisher=Published by the author |location= Chicago |page= 135 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l0pDAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA135 |access-date= November 26, 2009}} The modern bridge at this site is the 1965 Spring Garden Street Bridge.

The bridge was located near {{coord|39|57|50|N|75|11|00|W|type:landmark_scale:2000_region:US-PA|display=inline,title}}.

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.

File:AmCyc Bridge - Schuylkill Bridge.jpg|Diagram with section showing internals.