Tuscarora Creek railroad bridge

The Tuscarora Creek bridge is a 63.5-foot (19.4 m) single-span, steel, through-girder bridge with a floor beam/stringer system supporting a 12-inch (300 mm)-thick concrete slab south of Walkersville, Maryland. Originally constructed by the Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad Company (F&PL) in 1872. It was later rebuilt by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1907 as a thru girder concrete deck bridge using an older bridge from the Northern Central Railway. In 1915, the bridge was surveyed as part of the Interstate Commerce Commission's effort to establish freight rates for the Parent railroad.

Tuscarora Creek (Monocacy River) bridge
Tuscarora Creek (Monocacy River) bridge (1915 ICC photo)
Coordinates	39°27′48″N 77°23′37″W
Carries	Walkersville Southern RR, formerly Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad Company (F&PL)
Crosses	Tuscarora Creek which is part of the Monocacy River watershed.
Locale	Frederick County, Maryland
Official name	Tuscarora Creek (Monocacy River) bridge
ID number	Bridge 65.40 (MTA Chainage) Bridge 65.36 (ICC Chainage)
Followed by	PRR rebuilt the bridge using steel and reconfigured a single-span steel through-girder bridge with a floor beam/stringer system and a 12-inch (300 mm) thick concrete slabs.
Characteristics
Design	"Bollman suspension truss" a design patented by Bollman in 1852.
Material	Mixture of wrought and cast iron.
Total length	63.5 feet (19.4 m)
Width	43.5 feet (13.3 m)
Longest span	63.5 feet (19.4 m)
No. of spans	Single span all over Tuscarora Creek.
Piers in water	None
Clearance below	10 feet (3.0 m) above the water
History
Designer	Wendel Bollman
Constructed by	Patapsco Bridge and Iron Works of Baltimore, Maryland.
Fabrication by	Patapsco Bridge and Iron Works of Baltimore, Maryland.
Construction start	1871
Construction end	1872
Inaugurated	April 1872
Location

As of 2021, the bridge is in active rail service, operated by the Walkersville Southern RR.

History

Construction

Bollman Iron Bridge

The original plan for the railroad called for it to cross the Monocacy River below Tuscarora Creek and therefore, no bridge was located by Gitt in 1867. The finalized location for the railroad called for a bridge over Tuscarora Creek approximately 300 feet south of the Monocacy River crossing for the road. Like the other bridges on the road, the Tuscarora Creek bridge was to be a "Bollman suspension truss" with a creek span of 63 feet, 10 feet above the water. In 1872, Bollman's firm, Patapsco Bridge and Iron Works completed the bridge.

Pennsylvania Railroad Rebuilds

The ICC survey work papers indicate one rebuild after the 1872 construction but before the 1915 inspection:

The Bollman iron truss span for Monocacy was replaced by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1907 but the masonry abutments were left in place.

Pennsylvania replaced the Bollman truss with a 63.5-foot (19.4 m) single-span, steel, through-girder bridge. The 1915 ICC inspection reports indicate that the steel girders at that time were 3/8's of an inch in thickness and 50 inches (1,300 mm) deep. This 1907 replacement did not use new materials but instead, bridge 65.35 had been previously used by the Northern Central RR, or NCR as NCR bridge #33 built in 1882.

Subsequent to this ICC survey, Pennsylvania replaced the NCR bridge with a second thru girder bridge using 76+1⁄2 in (1,940 mm) deep x 5⁄8 in (16 mm) thick web side girders and a 12-inch (300 mm) thick concrete deck. This probably occurred at the same time as the Monocacy River rebuild in 1927.

No later rebuild by PRR was made after 1927 and before 1982 when the bridge was conveyed to the State of Maryland..

United States Railway Administration (USRA) Rebuild

There is no evidence of a rebuild by the USRA.

State Railroad Administration (SRA 1982-1989)

Subsequent to the conveyance of the railroad from Conrail to the State of Maryland in 1982, State Railroad Administration developed a Maryland State Rail Plan. The plan called for no action on the Tuscarora Creek bridge. Currently, the Maryland Dept. of Transportation owns the bridge.