CSX Railroad Bridge (U.S. Route 76), U.S. Route 76 spanning CSX Railroad, Jalapa

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER SC-34. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

U.S. Route 76, spanning the CSX Railroad, approximately 0.7 mile southeast of the intersection of County Route vicinity of Jalapa, Newberry County, South Carolina USGS Quad: Newberry West, SC Quadrangle, UTM: Date of Construction: Engineers: South Carolina State Highway Department Fabricator: Cherokee Construction Company

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER SC-34. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The U.S. Route 76 Bridge over the CSX Railroad is one of the earliest extant bridges built under the auspices of the South Carolina State Highway Commission. It is a representative example of a reinforced concrete T-beam bridge, one of only forty of this type built in the state between and that remain unaltered. It is also significant for its association with the Highway Commission's award-winning Bridge Division. Report Prepared by: Denise P. Messick and Mark T. Swanson, New South Associates Date: December CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 2 PART 1. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Chronology Federal Aid Road Act. States to provide matching funds and create appropriate highway agencies to oversee money and construction for road projects.

Creation of South Carolina Highway Department, run by a five-member Highway Commission. Most roadwork was still done at county level. Reorganization of SC State Highway Department. New seven-member Highway Commission elected Charles H. Moorefield as State Highway Engineer. Moorefield later known as "Father of the South Carolina State Highway System." Creation of specifications for State Highway Department roads, culverts, and bridges. Development of modular bridge concept. First Federal Aid Highway system in South Carolina, resulting from agreement between South Carolina Highway Department and Federal Bureau of Public Roads. "Pay As You Go" State Highway Act. State Highway Department established as permanent agency, with authority to build and maintain comprehensive road system.

Construction begins on paving of South Carolina Route 2 between Newberry and the Laurens County Line (Federal Aid Project September 13. Road work done by Pennell and Harley of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Construction of two bridges on Route 2 spanning CSX Railroad begun on February 20. Work by Cherokee Construction Company of Gaffney, South Carolina. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 3 Paving of Route 2 completed between Newberry and Laurens County, March 28. Two bridges completed soon thereafter. B. Introduction The U.S. Route 76 Bridge, a two-lane concrete T-beam structure constructed in carries vehicular traffic over the CSX Railroad approximately 5.3 miles northwest of the town of Newberry in Newberry County, South Carolina.

The bridge described in this report is one of two bridges constructed concurrently in Newberry County under the same contract along what was then South Carolina Route 2. The projects were included in Federal Aid Project which also resulted in the paving of the existing route (approximately 12 miles) between Newberry and the Laurens County Line near Kinards. C. Historical Context The bridge spanning the CSX Railroad on U.S. Route 76 is not large or visually impressive. It is, however, significant for reasons that have to do with its association with the early history of the South Carolina Highway Department. Essentially unaltered, it is one of only forty concrete T-beam bridges built in the state between and that remain extant.

To place this bridge in its historical context, it is necessary to discuss the development of the modern highway systems that led to a proliferation of similar bridges in the throughout South Carolina. Good Roads Movement, Railroads provided the initial impetus for large-scale bridge building in the nineteenth century, but this was soon followed by the demand for bridges for vehicular traffic as well. This development was tied to the growing demand in the late for better roads that could augment the transportation network already provided by the nation's rail lines.

Initially, this development was spurred not by the automobile, which was barely in its infancy, but by the bicycle, which had attained its modern form by the By the turn of the century, the bicycle was much more popular than it is today. In for CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 4 example, it was estimated that at least residents of Columbia, South Carolina used them daily to commute to work. 1 At the national level, the "good roads" movement of the led to the first federal road act which dated to whereby Congress gave the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate road-building techniques.

This provided funding for "object lesson" roads, where short stretches of roads were finished with local materials under federal supervision, to serve as a spur to local road construction. The act also established the "Office of Public Road Inquiries." By this had become the Bureau of Public Roads. 2 Despite this beginning, systematic progress was slow, largely because road-building remained a prerogative of the counties that was jealously guarded throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. 3 By the however, this prerogative was under attack from all sides.

Individual counties simply did not have the resources to maintain the sort of road networks demanded by the rapid rise of the automobile in the and The first consolidated school systems in the required the use of motorized buses, which created another demand for good all-weather roads. 4 Even more crucial was the emigration of many of South Carolina's rural poor, beginning in the as a result of bad harvests made worse by poor farm roads. 5 The were a period of transition in road building, as experiments were conducted to find the optimum surfacing and bridging materials. As a result, there was little standardization.

Road materials used during this period included gravel, bituminous macadam, concrete pavement, oiled earth, a "sand-clay" surface, and "top-soil." 6 In South 1 John Hammond Moore, The South Carolina Highway Department, (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2 Ibid., 39. 3 Carolina Highways, April-May Anniversary, p. 5. 4 Manufacturers Record, 1 January "Relation of the Motorbus to Development of Consolidated Schools in the South," 5 Walter Edgar, South Carolina: A History (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 6 J. Roy Pennell, South Carolina State Highway Commission, Specifications, Contract and Bond, Edition of (Columbia: R. L. Bryan Co., General information from various issues of "Public Roads: A Journal of Highway Research" (U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Public Roads, CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 5 Carolina, "top-soil" was a general term for local soils selected for the best "cementing" properties. 7 More specific and popular were the sand-clay surfaces, made by mixing sand, clay, and water. "Sand-clay" had been developed in South Carolina during the and was a local favorite for many years. 8 In state highway engineer Charles Moorefield attracted national attention with "cotton roads" built in Spartanburg and Newberry counties. "These were compacted topsoil surfaces covered with tar spread on a cotton mesh fabric. This mixture was topped with hot asphalt oil; and, after being subjected to traffic for several months, the roadway was then sealed with asphalt and stone chips .

" 9 As for road bridges, the most common materials used were creosoted timber, steel, and concrete. 10 Of the three, concrete bridges were the most recent development. Concrete and particularly reinforced concrete had established itself by the late as a useful building material; by the its cheapness, versatility, and longevity, made it one of the preferred materials for bridge construction. 11 Birth of South Carolina Department of Transportation, One of the lasting results of the Good Roads Movement was the first comprehensive federal law dealing with roads. Signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson in July of the Federal Aid Road Act provided funds for the improvement of "postal routes," and provided $75 million over a five-year period, to be divided among the states.

In order to use this money, each state had to provide matching funds and coordinate construction plans through a state highway department. Since South Carolina did not then on file at South Carolina Department of Transportation Library; Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Commission to the General Assembly for the Fiscal Year Ending 31 December Table 3. 7 Moore, South Carolina Highway Department, 53. 8 Ibid., 9 Moore, South Carolina Highway Department, 10 Pennell, South Carolina State Highway Commission, Specifications. 11 Elling and Witherspoon, Pre-1951 Non-Metal Truss Highway Bridges of South Carolina, Georgia Department of Transportation and Georgia Department of Natural Resources Historic Bridge Survey, September CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No.

Page 6 have such an agency, this federal law provided the impetus for the state's first highway department, created in 12 At that time, the State Highway Department consisted of a five- member Highway Commission, whose mission was to coordinate county road construction, and study road building and maintenance in other states for application in South Carolina. Directly beneath the commission was the first State Highway Engineer, J. Roy Pennell. Under him were five subordinates: Chief of Construction, Chief of Surveys, Bridge Engineer, Chief Draftsman, and Chief of Automobile License Division. As originally established, the highway department was not well funded, and it had limited authority. It could not build roads on its own and it did not control the roads once they were built.

It was not even a permanent department. It was basically a conduit for federal money to reach the counties. 13 The situation was improved in with the passage of a new highway department law. The Highway Commission was reorganized into a seven-member body, which was commissioned to elect a state highway engineer. Even though the commission still had no direct control over roadways, it was authorized to establish a system of interconnected roads throughout the state. It was also put on a more secure financial footing, using motor vehicle license fees and a two-mill property tax. 14 This marked the true beginning of the state's highway program. Slowly, throughout the the State Highway Department was awarded increasing authority.

Their authority over the state's bridges began prior to when the newly formed department was tasked with condition assessments for all toll bridges over 100 feet long. If a bridge was determined unsafe, it was repaired according to the specifications of the Department or closed. As the department developed, bridges became subject to the same regulations as highways and thus were treated as part of the 12 Moore, South Carolina Highway Department, Carolina Highways, April- May 13 Moore, South Carolina Highway Department, pp.

Carolina Highways, April-May 14 Annual Report of the State Highway Commission to the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina for the Fiscal Year Ending 31 December 11; Report of the Committee for the Investigation of the State Highway Department, under Joint Resolution of the General Assembly of Approved April 19, (Columbia: R. L. Bryan Co., Carolina Highways, April-May 9. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 7 state highway system15 By the end of the decade, it was accepted that the State Highway Department could construct roads and bridges in its own right. 16 The real powerhouse behind this new arrangement was the state highway engineer; the first one elected to this office on June 8, was Charles H. Moorefield.

Moorefield was previously employed as district engineer for the Southern office of the Federal Bureau of Public Roads. He served as state highway engineer until earning the title of "the father of the state highway system. " 17 Among the key people who served under Moorefield during this period were N. S. Anderson, construction engineer; Joseph W. Barnwell, bridge engineer; and A. Harwell, maintenance engineer. 18 The Bridge Division, a group solely devoted to the design, construction, and repair of the state's highway bridges, was formed at this time. The highway department was further strengthened in by the creation of the Federal Aid Highway System, which was extended into South Carolina as a result of an agreement between the state and the Bureau of Public Roads.

This allowed for the creation of a federal aid road system comprised of an initial 3, 662 miles in South Carolina. 19 Matters improved again in with the passage of the "Pay As You Go" Act. This law formally established the South Carolina State highway system, and established the State Highway Department as a permanently funded agency. The Highway Department was also given the authority to enter into reimbursement agreements with individual counties. As a result of this act, the burden of financing the state's highway system was shifted from local governments to the state highway department . 20 15 Moore, South Carolina Highway Department, 16 Moore, South Carolina Highway Department, 80 81.

17 Carolina Highways, April-May 18 South Carolina Highway Bulletin, volume III, no.11, November on file South Carolina Department of Archives and History. 19 Carolina Highways, April-May Outline History of South Carolina Highway Department, (South Carolina State Highway Department, Public Relations, Map Showing the Relation of the Federal Aid Highway System of South Carolina to the State Highway System of South Carolina, December 31, 2 Carolina Highways, April-May 11; Outline History of South Carolina Highway Department; Report of the Committee for the Investigation of the CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 8 Another improvement in was the creation of the Office of Chief Highway Commissioner.

This position was created to handle the political work of the department, and was approved by Charles Moorefield, as a means of freeing the rest of his staff to concentrate on the business of building roads and bridges. The first Chief Highway Commissioner was Samuel McGowan; a crusty retired Rear Admiral who refused to accept a salary. McGowan served for a little over a year, and was replaced in by Ben M. Sawyer, who had previously served as the department's secretary-treasurer. 21 It was under Sawyer and Moorefield that the State Highway Department made its greatest strides in the and Moorefield and Standardization, As noted, Charles H.

Moorefield has been called the "Father of the South Carolina State highway system." One of his best known achievements was the development of low-cost pavements, such as sand-clay and top-soil bases. 22 Born on January 6, in Virginia, Moorefield began his professional career as a bridge and highway engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads, from to During that time, he was also the author of a number of government bulletins dealing with road construction. 23 State Highway Department, 7; Annual Report of the State Highway Commission, Fiscal Year Ending 31 December 11.

21 Carolina Highways, April-May 10, 15; Outline History of South Carolina Highway Department; Report of the Committee for the Investigation of the State Highway Department, Moore, The South Carolina Highway Department, 22 Carolina Highways, April-May 9; Moore, The South Carolina Highway Department, 56. 23 Walker Scott Utsey, Who's Who in South Carolina: A Standard Biographical Reference Book of South Carolina, (Columbia: Current Historical Association, pp.

After consultations with Rich Rayburn, archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Southeast Regional Office at East Point, Georgia, and with John Butler of NARA in Washington, it was determined that any bulletins from the Bureau of Public Roads from that time period, would be on file at NARA in Washington, (Records Group Publications of the U.S. Government, Charles Moorefield's personal papers were donated by his son, Charlie Moorefield, to the South Caroliniana Society, a sister institution to the South Caroliniana Library. Sam Fore of the South Caroliniana Society kindly examined these papers, currently stored in the archive annex, and found nothing about bridge construction or modular design.

Another possible source was the Transportation Research Board located in Washington, CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 9 Moorefield left the department in when he returned briefly to the Bureau of Public Roads. He died the following year, on April 28, 24 Among the lesser-known achievements of Charles Moorefield were advances in road and bridge standardization. In this respect, Moorefield was assisted by the department's bridge engineers, Joseph W. Barnwell, Jr. and also Gooding. 25 Referred to as "Captain Joe Barnwell" by a contemporary, the Clemson-educated bridge engineer played a significant role in the Bridge Division.

He is credited along with Moorefield with establishing "a fine tradition of bridge building in South Carolina" that eventually won the state national recognition. Barnwell began his career as a bridge engineer for the department but was employed as a private contractor engaged in bridge building by the Gooding, a Citadel graduate, joined the Bridge Division in and remained with the Highway Department for forty-six years. Notably, the two bridge engineering pioneers, Gooding and Barnwell, found themselves at odds with each other during the over construction issues. In one account, Barnwell as contractor questioned the Department's standards casting them as excessive.

To which Gooding replied, "Damn it Joe, you wrote the green book of Department regulations for bridge building." 26 In the early the Department built all of its bridges 18' wide. This was often considered excessive by county officials who protested that it was a waste of money since cars were only 5' wide, so a 12' bridge would surely suffice. Gooding observed that by the late the minimum width had increased to and then continued to increase. 27 Jessica Fomalont of the TRB found a few titles by Charles Moorefield in the TRB collection, but they were not pertinent to bridge construction.

She kindly performed a search in a database with access to library catalogs worldwide and found one interesting reference that is not located in the TRB collection: "Data for Use in Designing Culverts and Short-Span Bridges," Bulletin, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Public Roads, 39 pages (16 pages of plates), 24 Carolina Highways, April-May 10. 25 Elling and Witherspoon, Study of Pre-1951 Non-Metal Truss Highway Bridges of South Carolina, 7; Annual Report of the State Highway Commission, Fiscal Year Ending 31 December 5. 26 Moore. The South Carolina Highway Department, 27 Ibid., CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 10 The main achievement of the state engineers in the area of highway bridge construction was the standardization of bridge design.

This was something that had always been of interest to the department. As early as the very first highway engineer, J. Roy Pennell, created general specifications for highway bridges and culverts. 28 Moorefield, however, took this interest to a new level when he approved specifications for a modular-type bridge that used uniform spans of reinforced concrete T-beams, a type of bridge that was used extensively after World War I. 29 In South Carolina, general plans for this type of bridge were drawn up between and and were used in the construction of small bridges in soft-soil areas of the state throughout the Beginning in the similar bridges were constructed using pre-cast concrete slabs, which became a construction standard after the Second World War.

30 Unlike the pre-cast version, the bridges of the were cast in place. Only the plans and forms were modular. The U. S. 76 Bridge was larger than many of the modular plans, because it needed clearance for rail cars underneath. It used a slightly different design, employing arches between the upright support beams. The Newberry-Kinards Road (U. S. Route 76) The bridge spanning the CSX Railroad at U.S. Route 76 is a feature of the highway known in the as South Carolina Route 2 between Newberry and Kinards. The route has been in existence since the earliest settlement of the area by Europeans. Newberry County was carved out of the Ninety Six District in and organized under the Act of with Newberry as the county seat.

31 This part of the upcountry was settled largely by English, Scots-Irish, and German immigrants in the mid-eighteenth century. Large-scale cotton farming replaced small farms in the nineteenth century. The coming of the railroad in the mid-1800s made Newberry a leading cotton market for several years. Newberry farmers also grew oats, 28 Pennell, South Carolina State Highway Conunission, Specifications, 64. 29 J. Patrick Harshbarger and Mary E. McCahon, "Strategies for Historic Evaluation of Standard Highway Bridges, Preserving the Recent Past 2, Editors: Deborah Slaton and William G.

Foulks (Washington, National Park Service, Association for Preservation Technology International, through 30 Ibid., through 31 Department of Agriculture, Conunerce and Industry, South Carolina: A Handbook (Department of Agriculture, Conunerce and Industry, CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 11 corn, and cover crops. Still primarily an agricultural county, its cash crops now include poultry, eggs, beef and dairy cattle, and timber and pulpwood. By the population of Newberry County was estimated at It had 79 miles of railroad and three different lines, including the Columbia, Newberry, and Laurens (C. N. & L.) Railroad, which then occupied the track that is now spanned by the current highway bridge. Portions of the road now known as U. S.

Route 76 are seen on the Mills' Atlas of the State of South Carolina. 32 It was part of the Newberry to Laurensville stage route by According to local histories, the only channel of communication with the outside world in the was through a tri-weekly line of stage coaches that ran on this route between Columbia and Asheville. By the stage road is shown intersecting with the railroad line twice in Newberry County, once near the community of Jalapa where the present bridge is located. 33 These early crossings were at grade with no bridges. The 177-mile stage route is named the Piedmont Highway on South Carolina's first official highway map in The railroad became incorporated as the C. N. & L.

Railroad in 34 Statewide, less than ten percent of total maintained miles had been paved by for a total of only 303 miles. 35 The Piedmont Highway and all others in the county remained unpaved until when the first hard-surfaced road was completed between Newberry and Prosperity. Newberry County had only about 20 miles of paved roads in Within ten years a network of paved roads extended all over the county. 36 One local leader in road improvement was J. Marion Davis, a member of the State Highway Commission and mayor of Newberry. 37 On September 13, paving began on State Route 2 from Newberry to the Laurens County line. Federal Aid Project 264 32 Southern Historical Press, Inc., Mills' Atlas of the State of South Carolina (reprinted 33 E.M.

Stoeber, Newberry County Geological and Agricultural Map Compiled from Railroad, Coast & State Surveys 34 John Belton O'Neal and John A. Chapman, The Annals of Newberry in Two Parts (Newberry: Aull & Houseal, 35 Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, South Carolina: A Handbook, 36 Thomas H. Pope, The History of Newberry County, South Carolina, Volume Two:1860-1990 (University of South Carolina Press, 37 Ibid., CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 12 specified a plain concrete surface on a net length of miles. 38 The contractor was Pennell and Harley, Inc. of Spartanburg. This company was listed in the Spartanburg City Directory for as construction engineers with an office at Montgomery Street. The principals were J. R. Pennell and J. B. Harley. 39 J.

Roy Pennell had been state highway engineer from to playing an instrumental role in creating early specifications for bridges and culverts. The northwest portion of the road-surfacing project was completed first, nearest the Laurens County line. 40 Paving was 76 percent complete in and totally finished by March 28, with a total cost of 41 The project had not been without controversy. A delegation of Newberry citizens requested that the loop around Newberry (to the northeast of downtown) not be paved42 The designated road (State Route 2/ U.S. 76) curved through downtown, and a connecting loop (State Route 192 on the Highway Map) completed the route from Laurens to Columbia without the necessity of going through Newberry. Apparently the residents hoped to ensure traffic through their town.

Another controversy involved the highway commission's attempt to obtain 75' rights-of-way along the road. Several Newberry County residents were initially unwilling to grant this type of deed to the highway department, and negotiations were required to resolve the issue. 43 The location of Highway 2 between Newberry and Kinards included two crossings of the C. N. & L. Railroad (now the CSX line). The original survey for the paving of the road in would have re-located the road to eliminate both railroad crossings. Parties owning property on the highway, as it was then located, filed a protest with the state highway commission. A committee 38 Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Department to the General Assembly for FY Ending Dec. 31, Columbia, Table 3.

39 Spartanburg City Directory, 4 Condition Map of State Highway System of South Carolina Showing Condition of State Roads as of 1 January 41 Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Department to the General Assembly for FY Ending Dec. 31, Columbia, Table 3. 42 "Minutes of the Highway and Public Transportation Commission, November 43 "Road Meeting is Held in Newberry," The Observer (Newberry), 23 September 1. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 13 came to Newberry, and after hearing a discussion of the proposed change, granted the request of citizens by deciding to rebuild the highway along the old roadbed.

44 This change brought about the need for two vehicular bridges to span the railroad, one near Newberry and the other near the small crossroads community of Jalapa. 45 The U.S. Route 76 Bridge near Jalapa One engineer who inspected the state highway between Newberry and Prosperity in noted with dismay that the road crossed a stretch of railroad track seven times in seven miles. 46 The elimination of railroad grade crossings presented special difficulties in the Legislation enacted in set up a fifty-fifty sharing of costs between the Highway Department and the railroad. In the case of an overpass, the Department maintained the superstructure and the railroad maintained the foundation and piers.

These rules were not without acrimony and disagreement, although the elimination of surface crossings had considerable positive impact. 47 There are at least five basic types of bridges: the arch, the simple beam, the suspension, the cantilever (a variant of the beam), and the truss (based on the inherent strength of the triangle). The truss became common in the with the development of railroads and steel bridges, but all five types were understood and studied in the 48 In South Carolina, metal truss bridges were more common in the uplands, where bedrock foundations were available. Concrete, which was developed in its modern form in the late was also employed for bridges. In parts of the uplands, the arch was the preferred form of concrete bridge.

In the lowlands, or other locations where there was little or no bedrock, bridge weight had to be more dispersed, requiring a 44 "Road to Kinards Follows Old Road", The Observer (Newberry), 26 August 1. 45 South Carolina State Highway Department, General Highway and Transportation Map of Newberry County, 46 Moore, The South Carolina Highway Department, 42. 47 Ibid., 48 Wilbur J. Watson, Bridge Architecture, Containing Two-Hundred Illustrations of the Notable Bridges of the World, Ancient and Modern, with Descriptive, Historical, and Legendary Text (Cleveland: J. H. Jansen, CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 14 greater number of foundation supports. This led to the development of concrete T-Beam bridges.

This bridge type is defined as primarily simple-span, cast-in-place, rectangular beam reinforced concrete structures with integral monolithic flanking deck sections that could be used for spans of up to 50' in length. They employed upright support beams at regular intervals. 49 Reinforcing steel is placed longitudinally in the bottom of the beam stem while the deck reinforcement runs perpendicular to the stem. 50 In the it was the custom to separate the work for roads and bridges. Each had their own surveys and plans, and each had separate contractors. In the highway department's annual reports, they are tallied separately. Not only were bridges more costly than roadways, they were also high-profile constructions.

A bridge failure was more costly and more dangerous than a washout on an open stretch of road. Despite these drawbacks, as roadways proliferated across the state in the so did bridges. Between and a total of 408 bridges, each over 20' in length, were built through the auspices of the State Highway Department. 51 In the state of South Carolina completed 17 bridges with federal aid, claiming a total of from the federal government for bridge work. The aggregate length of the bridges completed in came to over Most of these bridges were of creosoted timber, generally considered the cheapest material available and certainly useful when bridges had to be built quickly.

A small minority of bridges was steel, which was the most expensive material but most durable, if the proper bedrock foundation was available. In the middle range were reinforced concrete bridges. 52 In the long run, these would prove the most popular and versatile. 49 Elling and Witherspoon, Study of Pre-1951 Non-Metal Truss Highway Bridges of South Carolina, p. 8; Georgia Department of Transportation and Georgia Department of Natural Resources Historic Bridge Survey, September 34. 50 Lichenstein and Associates, Updated Georgia Historic Bridges Survey, prepared for Georgia Department of Transportation, 11. 51 Report of the Committee for the Investigation of the State Highway Department, 48. 52 Ibid., 11. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No.

Page 15 One of the features that made concrete so popular was its flexibility that allowed bridge engineers to create standardized designs. The standard bridge design for a typical reinforced concrete T-beam bridge built for the South Carolina Highway Department is attributed to South Carolina Highway Department Bridge Engineer Joseph W. Barnwell, and an unidentified co- worker known only from his initials, The standardized design work was completed in November of revised in and approved by Charles Moorefield that same year. In and the standard T-Beam bridge design was modified for the U.S. Route 76 Bridge in Newberry County. This bridge was also designed by J. W. Barnwell, the state bridge engineer at the time, and approved by Charles Moorefield, the state highway engineer.

The contract to build the two reinforced concrete bridges between Newberry and the Laurens County line went to Cherokee Construction Company of Blacksburg, South Carolina, the low bidder, in December 53 Blacksburg is near the larger town of Gaffney in Cherokee County, but Cherokee Construction Company was not listed in any available city directory for the area in the or (Spartanburg or Gaffney) . 54 The two vehicular bridges over the C. N. & L. Railroad, one near Newberry and one near Jalapa, were each in length. The same plans and specifications were used for each, with some modifications. Cherokee Construction Company began the work on February 20, as the road paving project was nearing completion.

The total cost for both bridges was 55 All work was part of Federal Aid Project which also included the road surface. Twenty-three Federal Aid bridges had been completed in South Carolina in That same year, over of Federal Aid was claimed on bridge work, and South Carolina paid out on bridge contracts. 56 In the year 17 53 "Minutes of the Highway and Public Transportation Commission, December 54 Gaffney City Directory, Gaffney City Directory, Spartanburg City Directory, 55 Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Department for FY Table 6. 56 Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Department for FY 18. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 16 bridges were completed with Federal Aid money with a total federal expenditure of for bridges.

57 State and local authorities also paid a large portion of many projects. The newly-paved roads and new bridges in Newberry County brought continued growth and prosperity to the area, and enabled farmers and small manufacturers to move products more easily to markets such as Columbia and Asheville. PART II. BRIDGE DESCRIPTION A. General Statement The U. S. Route 76 Bridge over the CSX Railroad near Jalapa is a two-lane, T-beam vehicular bridge. Its setting is rural with agricultural fields and farmsteads, as well as railroad tracks, in the vicinity. While the roadway is oriented generally to the northwest/southeast, the road curves near the bridge, making the bridge's orientation closer to a north/south axis.

The approach is steeply banked with fill, in order to achieve the necessary height to span the railroad line, which has a single track at this location. The bridge and railroad do not meet on the perpendicular, but rather form a narrow "x" where they cross. B. Physical Description The bridge is identified on the plans for Project No. 264 as Bridge No. 2. This bridge is long and wide. It has five reinforced concrete spans, each with a maximum length of The substructure consists of six bents, with one bent on each end covered by the earthen embankment. Only the four center bents remain visible. Each bent consists of four piers on spread footings. The four visible bents are connected above by reinforced concrete T-beams and linked near the top with arched spandrels above concrete collars.

The two center bents (nearest the railroad tracks) also each have three concrete panels connecting the piers near the bottom. Bents 1 and 6 (below the embankment) are identical, bents 2 and 5 are identical, and bents 3 and 4 (nearest the tracks) are identical. 57Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Department for FY 18. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 17 The bridge's deck is concrete overlain by asphalt. The center span is 50' long and each of the four other spans is 30' long. A one-half-inch elastite joint was placed between each span. Circular drain holes are placed along the side walls of the bridge deck. The guardrail is concrete with two parallel rails and 27 vertical concrete posts. Most exposed edges were chamfered.

The elevation at the top of the rail posts ranges from at each end to in the center. The elevation on the second rail below the bridge is Minimum allowable clearance between the track and underside of the bridge is There have been no significant alterations to the bridge. PART III. SOURCES OF INFORMATION Engineering Drawings and Plans: Sheets containing original plans for Federal Aid Project No. 264 were located at South Carolina's Department of Transportation's Columbia office. Only nine sheets of the original series of eighty-two provided specific information about the study bridge, identified on the plans as Bridge No. 2. Many of the same sheets also had data that referred to Bridge No. 1, a similar bridge that was built concurrently by the same contractor.

The nine sheets are described more fully in the bibliography below. A. Early Views and Historical Data: No historic views of the bridge were identified. Primary and secondary research was conducted at Georgia Institute of Technology, College of Architecture Library; Georgia Institute of Technology Library; South Carolina Department of Archives and History; South Carolina Department of Transportation; South Carolina Department of Transportation Library; South Carolina State Library; South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia; South Caroliniana Society, University of South Carolina, Columbia; the Newberry County Library, Newberry; and the Transportation Research Board in Washington, DC.

Annual Reports of the State Highway Commission on deposit at the South Carolina Department of Transportation Library were useful. City directories for Spartanburg and Gaffney and CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 18 local and state maps were found at the South Caroliniana Library. South Carolina Department of Transportation's Columbia office houses the original plans of the bridge along with inspection reports. South Carolina's Department of Archives and History was the source for data on the State Highway Department, maps, and minutes of the state highway commission's meetings. Additional secondary research on concrete bridge technology was carried out at Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of South Carolina. B.

Interviews: Telephone contact was made with Charles H. Moorefield's son, Charlie Moorefield (81 years old) in March and May of Moorefield did not personally know that much about his father's work (he was 16 when his father died), and years ago he donated his father's papers to the South Caroliniana Society. Moorefield mentioned that Maurice Dickson Moseley, who was a bridge engineer for the state, might have more information from that time period, but Mr. Moseley is now living in a rest home and was not able to provide much assistance. C.

Bibliography Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Commission to the General Assembly for the Fiscal Year Ending 31 December Printed under the direction of the joint assembly on printing, General Assembly of South Carolina, South Carolina State Highway Department, Columbia, On file, South Carolina Department of Transportation. Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Commission to the General Assembly for the Fiscal Year Ending 31 December Printed under the direction of the joint assembly on printing, General Assembly of South Carolina, South Carolina State Highway Department, Columbia, On file, South Carolina Department of Transportation.

Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Commission to the General Assembly for the Fiscal Year Ending 31 December Printed under the direction of the joint assembly on printing, General Assembly of South Carolina, CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 19 South Carolina State Highway Department, Columbia, On file, South Carolina Department of Transportation. Annual Report of the South Carolina State Highway Commission to the General Assembly for the Fiscal Year Ending 31 December Printed under the direction of the joint assembly on printing, General Assembly of South Carolina, South Carolina State Highway Department, Columbia, On file, South Carolina Department of Transportation. Carolina Highways, April-May Anniversary.

On file, South Carolina Department of Transportation Library. Condition Map of State Highway System of South Carolina, showing Condition of State Roads as of 1 January State Highway Department. On file, South Caroliniana Library. Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry. South Carolina: A Handbook. Columbia: Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, Edgar, Walter. South Carolina: A History. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, Elling, Rudolph E., and Gayland B. Witherspoon. A Study of Pre-1951 Non-Metal Truss Highway Bridges of South Carolina. Prepared by Dr. Rudolph E. Elling, P.E., Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, and Professor Gayland B.

Witherspoon, F.A.I.A, Department of Architectural Studies, College of Architecture, Clemson University, Assisted by Dr. Linda K. Varkounda, Research Consultant, for South Carolina Department of Highways and Public Transportation, June Frick, Bonnie L. South Carolina Statewide Survey Site Form, State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), Site Newberry County, April 11, Gaffney City Directory. On file, South Caroliniana Library. Gaffney City Directory. On file, South Caroliniana Library. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 20 Georgia Department of Transportation. Georgia Department of Transportation and Georgia Department of Natural Resources Historic Bridge Survey, September Manuscript on file, Georgia Department of Transportation. Harshbarger, J. Patrick, and Mary E. McCahon.

"Strategies for Historic Evaluation of Standard Highway Bridges, Preserving the Recent Past 2, pp. through 2- Editors: Deborah Slaton, William G. Foulks. Washington, DC: Historic Preservation Education Foundation, National Park Service, Association for Preservation Technology International, Manufacturers Record, 1 January "Relation of the Motorbus to Development of Consolidated Schools in the South," pp. On file, Georgia Institute of Technology Library. Map Showing the Relation of the Federal Aid Highway System of South Carolina to the State Highway System of South Carolina, December 31, On file, South Caroliniana Library. "Minutes of the Highway and Public Transportation Commission, On microfilm, South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Moore, John Hammond.

The South Carolina Highway Department, Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, Observer, The (Newberry). O'Neal, John Belton and John A. Chapman. The Annals of Newberry in Two Parts. Newberry: Aull & Houseal, Pennell, J. Roy. South Carolina State Highway Commission, Specifications, Contract and Bond, Edition of J. Roy Pennell, State Highway Engineer. Columbia: R. L. Bryan Co., On file, South Caroliniana Library. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 21 Pope, Thomas H. The History of Newberry County, South Carolina, Volume Two: Chapel Hill: University of South Carolina Press, Report of the Committee for the Investigation of the State Highway Department, under Joint Resolution of the General Assembly of approved April 19, Columbia: R. L.

Bryan Co., On file, South Carolina Department of Archives and History. South Carolina Highway Bulletin, November On file, South Carolina Department of Archives and History. South Carolina State Highway Department. General Highway and Transportation Map of Newberry County, South Carolina. South Carolina State Highway Department. Outline History of South Carolina Highway Department, South Carolina State Highway Department, Public Relations, On file, South Carolina Department of Archives and History. South Carolina State Highway Department. State Highway System of South Carolina. South Carolina State Highway Department, December 31, (first official state highway system map). On file, South Carolina Department of Transportation. Southern Historical Press, Inc.

Mills' Atlas of the State of South Carolina Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, Inc., reprinted Spartanburg City Directory. On file, South Caroliniana Library. State Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Industries. Official Map Showing the Main Public Highways. Issued by State Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Industries, E. J. Watson, Commissioner, On file, South Caroliniana Library. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 22 State of South Carolina, State Highway Department. Federal Aid Project No. Route No. 2. Newberry County from Newberry to Laurens County Line. "Details of Bents and Viaducts over L. Railroad between Newberry and Kinards." "Details of Bents for Bridge over RY. Newberry-Kinards Road." "Details of 152 Ft.

Continuous Span for Bridge over "Details of Superstructures and Viaducts over Railroad between Newberry and Kinards." "Plan, Elevation & Quantities for Bridges over Railroad between Newberry and Kinards." "Plan and Profile Overhead Bridge Over RY. Newberry-Kinards Road." "Plan and Profile of Proposed State Highway." "Sheet 16 of "24 Ft. Span and Quantities for Bridge over RY. Newberry-Kinards Road." Stoeber, E.M. Newberry County Geological and Agricultural Map Compiled from Railroad Coast & State Surveys. Utsey, Walker Scott. Who's Who in South Carolina: A Standard Biographical Reference Book of South Carolina, Columbia: Current Historical Association, Watson, Wilbur J.

Bridge Architecture, Containing Two-hundred Illustrations of the Notable Bridges of the world, Ancient and Modern, with Descriptive, Historical, and Legendary Text. Cleveland: J. H. Jansen, CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 23 Who's Who in South Carolina: A Dictionary of Contemporaries Containing Biographical Notices of Eminent Men in South Carolina. Columbia: Mccaw, PART IV. PROJECT INFORMATION Due to the deficiencies in this bridge, South Carolina Department of Transportation has determined that the Route 76 Bridge is functionally obsolete and potentially dangerous, and plans are in development for its removal and replacement.

The bridge was considered significant in the field of engineering as an early example of a concrete T-beam bridge and for its association with South Carolina's Highway Department's pioneers, Charles Moorefield and Joseph W. Barnwell. New South Associates entered into an agreement with South Carolina Department of Transportation to document the bridge prior to its replacement. CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 24 Appendix - Design Tables and Bridge Profile Tables and Design Data transcribed from South Carolina State Highway Department's Plans and Specifications for Project 264 Bridges over L. Railroad between Newberry and Kinards SUMMARY OF QUANTITIES, BRIDGE NO. 2 ITEM Concrete Reinforcing Dry Paving Cu. Steel Excavation Sq. Yards Cu.

Yards Spans 1-2 & 5-6 - 30' Spans 2-3 & 4-5 - 30' Spans 3-4 - 50' Span Railing 9.2 Bents 1 & 6 115 Bents 2 & 5 64 115 Bents 3 & 4 145 Extras 2.1 61 Total 375 Design Data: Ton Trucks, 80% Rear Wheel loads, 14' wheelbase. Impact 25% Notes: Specifications: State High. Dept. Specifications for bridges revised Dec. 1, with subsequent revisions. During construction of span over tracks the minimum clearances allowed by the railroad company are as follows: Vertical - 0" above top of rail, Horizontal - from track. All concrete, except in Rail, is to be Class "A-A" - 1-1 1/2 -3 mix. Maximum aggregate 1 No construction joints will be allowed in pouring the superstructures. Note that gutters are poured with slab. A Templet cut to the crown of the roadway must be used in finishing slab.

CSX RAILROAD BRIDGE (U.S. ROUTE 76) HAER No. Page 25 Forms must be of dressed lumber and so constructed and braced as to be held rigidly in line, place, and elevation. Lumber for curbs shall be 2" thick. Top surfaces shall be tamped and trowelled so as to provide a smooth, neat finish free of pits and porous places. All exposed surfaces are to be brought to a smooth neat finish by rubbing with a carborundum brick. Exposed edges are to be chamfered 1" unless otherwise shown. All reinforcing steel is to be deformed bars. Square twisted bars are not considered deformed. All bends are to be made cold. Dimensions relating to reinforcing steel are to be centers of bars. The Contractor shall arrange his equipment and materials so that they will not interfere with the railroad traffic at any time.