Car-Bridge Accident at Greisemer’s Covered Bridge in Berks County, PA

Historic covered bridge in Berks closed after car crashes into abutment

Built in 1868, the covered bridge is one of five left in the county. Has been listed on the National Register since 1981. Bridge closed until further notice. Details on the accident in the article above.

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BHC Pic of the Week Nr. 246 (Tribute to David Backlin)

Mystery Bridge Nr. 197

The second of the two Snyder Park Bridges is also a mystery bridge. Yet the question when taking a look at the two is which one is the more glamorous of them? After looking at the unique Stone Arch Bridge in our last Mystery Bridge post, we have this one: The Snyder Memorial Bridge.

Spanning Buck Creek on Snyder Park Road, the Memorial Bridge is a combination of iron and steel bridge that has a little European flavor to it. According to Nathan Holth, the bridge was built in 1897 but it is unknown who had built it. It features an arch span that is half pony and half deck. It also has a Pratt pony truss span whose endposts are vertical and have ornamental castings.

Looking at it from an expatriate’s point of view, these have the features of a typical truss and arch bridge built in Germany. As reference, one needs not to look further than the Levansau Arch Bridge in Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein. Built in 1894, it was one of two bridges built by Hermann Muthesius over the Baltic-North Sea Canal, yet when it was built, it featured a combination through truss with Howe features, plus an arch span that was half pony-half deck. Its portal bracings were more ornate than this one at Snyder Park- as it featured brick arch portals with decorative features. A postcard of the bridge can be found here:

In 1952, the bridge was stripped down to the arches, eliminating the portals and the trusses. The bridge is still serving traffic, but its replacement is just around the corner and the structure is expected to be torn down by 2028.

Going back to the Snyder Memorial Bridge, the design of the bridge is definitely one that is typical of European bridges and like the truss bridges in the States, they too are becoming rare to find. What is known are the bridge railings that are outside the trusses and carry a wooden pedestrian path. These railings have an arched lattice design with vertical posts with decorative castings. According to Mr. Holth, the railings were patented by Chester B. Albree, who had a company based in Pittsburgh, PA. Established in 1893, Albree’s railings were used extensively in western Pennsylvania and were common on many structures throughout the US. Yet it is unknown whether he installed the railings to this bridge when it was built four years later.

As mentioned in the previous post, John and David Snyder created the 217-acre park that featured a combination of forests, ponds and even a golf course in 1895, yet they endowed a bond worth $200,000 to ensure of the park’s upkeep and paid $25,000 for the construction of the bridge. It is unknown who was the bridge builder and whether Mr. Albree constructed the railings for the bridge, the entire structure itself or if he had nothing to do with it.

And this is where you are up. What do we know about the bridge? Feel free to comment in the section below. The same applies to the stone arch bridge that was posted a day ago. Your bridge matters and we look forward to hearing about it.

David Backlin photographed the bridge in 2018 when it was closed to vehicular traffic. Pedestrians and cyclists however can use the bridge.

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This was the last one in the series dedicated in memory of David Backlin. There will be more to come yet they will be integrated with those posted by the author and other bridgehunters and in its usual time slot of once a week on Mondays. We just want to showcase his work as a way of saying thank you for what you did as a bridge photographer and contributor. You will be missed.