Chattooga River Bridge, Spanning Chattooga River on U.S. 76, Walhalla

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER SC-42. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Chattooga River bridge is an intact example of a steel camelback through truss constructed at an unknown date around the turn of the twentieth century. The bridge was determined eligible by the Keeper of the National Register in at the request of the U.S. Forest Service. Report Prepared by: Circa, Inc. 16 North Boylan Avenue Raleigh, NC Date: November CHATTOOGA RIVER BRIDGE HAER No. Page2 Introduction The Chattooga River Bridge spans the Chattooga River between Oconee County, South Carolina and Rabun County, Georgia. This report contains written and photographic information prepared for the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER).

It has been prepared in accordance with the "Secretary of the Interior's Guidelines for Architectural and Engineering Documentation," published in the Federal Register Vol. 68, No. Monday, July 21, The HAER documentation was completed in May of as part of a South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) project to replace the existing U.S. 76 concrete bridge over the Chattooga River. A cultural resources study was conducted by TRC Garrow Associates, Inc. in May of as part of the bridge replacement project. The study identified and recorded an abandoned metal truss bridge, located approximately fifty meters north of the concrete bridge slated for replacement.

This bridge was determined eligible by the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) in at the request of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). This HAER documentation packet was prepared to mitigate the adverse effects of the bridge's removal. Circa, Inc. was contracted by TRC Garrow Associates, Inc. in April of to prepare the HAER documentation. Photography was completed by Tim Barnwell in May of using a 4" x 5" large format camera. Background research for the text was conducted by Circa staff at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Previous research was undertaken by TRC Garrow Associates, Inc.

at, or in consultation with, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division, Oconee County Government, the SCDOT, USFS, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. This information was conveyed to Circa for use in this report. This report relies heavily on two reports: A Cultural Resources Survey for the U.S. 76 Bridge Replacement over the Chattooga River prepared by TRC Garrow Associates, Inc. and Metal Truss Highway Bridge Inventory prepared by Rudolph E. Elling, P.E. and Gayland B. Witherspoon, AIA. Site Description Located in the Blue Ridge mountain range, the Chattooga River Bridge spans the Chattooga River between Oconee County, South Carolina and Rabun County, Georgia, approximately ten miles due west of the Oconee County seat of Walhalla.

Oconee County is in the westernmost point of South Carolina. The county shares its CHATTOOGA RIVER BRIDGE HAER No. Page 3 northern border with North Carolina. The winding Chattooga River serves as the South Carolina-Georgia border for approximately forty miles. It was designated a Wild and Scenic River by the U.S. Congress in This designation prohibits development and protects the scenic and natural qualities of the river. The bridge lies within the Sumter and Chattahoochee National Forests and thus the surrounding land is primarily , wooded and characterized by mountainous terrain interspersed by steep valleys. The land surrounding the bridge slopes downward to the river and is covered with pine trees.

At this point the river is approximately 5' deep at the center and approximately l' to 2'deep at the rocky banks. Small rapids are present. Approximately fifty meters south of the metal truss bridge is the current U.S. 76 Bridge (scheduled for replacement}, a concrete girder structure built in Historical Background Rogue's Ford connected Rabun County, Georgia with Oconee County, South Carolina in the vicinity of the present day Chattooga River Bridge Historical documents indicate that a river crossing at "Rogue's Ford" was well-established by the early nineteenth century. In fifty-six men submitted a petition to the South Carolina General Assembly requesting an improved road to Rogue's Ford. The petition requested: ...

a publick ( sic} high road to be granted and established intersecting with a road now opening from Rabun Court House, Ga. At a place called Rogues Ford on Chattooga River thence to intersect with the Main Pendleton Road at or near William Simpson's, it being the most direct rout (sic) from one of the above Court House to the other (South Carolina, Petitions to the General Assembly, ca. TRC Despite the above written description, an plat of Oconee County is the earliest known map to visually depict a road leading to a crossing at Rogue's Ford. With this area of the state sparsely populated, it is likely that a river crossing sufficed until the construction of the first bridge, thought to be the metal truss bridge now in place.

An exact date of construction for the Chattooga River Bridge has not been established. A bridge plate identifying the date and manufacturer has not been found, but there are clues suggesting an approximate date around the turn of the twentieth century. In the authority for bridge building passed from the state to the counties. The nationwide rise of the automobile prompted CHATTOOGA RIVER BRIDGE HAER No. Page4 the legislature to establish the State Highway Department in and bridge and road construction authority reverted back to the state. Highway Department records contain no reference to the funding or construction of a bridge at Rogue's Ford. This omission suggests the bridge was likely built prior to when the counties constructed bridges independently of the state and one another.

No information on the bridge was found in the . records of Oconee County (Green interview, April 20, Also possible is that the bridge was funded by the Sate of Georgia or Rabun County, although no records have been found to confirm this hypothesis. Physical clues also support an early twentieth century date of construction. South Carolina's post-1917 bridges reflect uniformity in design not seen prior to the centralization of bridge authority (Elling The Highway Department did not utilize pin connections, and therefore pin-connected bridges, such as the one at Rogue's Ford, were either constructed prior to or were constructed locally.

The earliest known metal truss bridge in South Carolina is a pin- connected Pratt through truss in McCormick County with a confirmed date of (Elling Therefore, construction of the Chattooga River Bridge can be roughly estimated to be sometime between and Regardless of its date of construction, the Chattooga River metal truss bridge was in use until when it was replaced by the second, larger bridge at Rogues' Ford, a concrete girder type bridge constructed by E.H. Hines Construction Company with federal and SCDOT funds Ownership of the bridge transferred to the USFS in the mid-1970s. Present Use The bridge was abandoned in when the concrete bridge was constructed. Present Owner The present owner of the Chattooga River Bridge is unknown.

The most likely owner is the USFS as they became stewards of the Chattooga River in when it was designated a Wild and Scenic River. However, the USFS has no record of the bridge's ownership being transferred to them at that time. The chain of title is equally indiscernible prior to The style of the bridge gives it a build date of ca.1890-1907, and suggests that it was constructed by Rabun County or the State of Georgia as there were efforts to develop the county during the turn of the twentieth century. In Oconee County and the State of CHATTOOGA RIVER BRIDGE HAER No. Page 5 South Carolina undertook a series of projects to improve Route 18, which became U.S. 76 in These improvements included the construction of two bridges but their exact locations are not known.

The style of the Chattooga River Bridge would have been a rarity in but not impossible. Neither State, nor Oconee County or Rabun County claim any ownership of or construction ofthe bridge. Bridge Description The Chattooga River Bridge is an early-twentieth-century metal truss bridge approximately in length and 12' wide curb-to- curb. Prefabricated metal truss design was ideal for lengthy spans in mountainous regions where seasonal flooding and steep terrain had to be accommodated. A precise date of construction could be determined neither by an examination of the structure nor records search. However, the bridge is a common type for the period. Two massive steel posts support the bridge at both the east and west ends.

The size of the posts contrasts with the slender members that comprise the delicate pin-connected camelback through truss above the deck. The SCSHPO survey site file states that there is evidence that the bridge was fabricated by a company in Winder, Georgia, but no citation is given for this information. A unique feature of the bridge is its use of dye-forged eye bars, rather than welded eye bars (SCSHPO survey site file). The east and west end bridge approaches have been removed as has the bridge deck. The date of removal is unknown, but these components were missing at the time the Keeper of the National Register determined the bridge eligible for listing in the National Register in Construction Technology Truss bridges were first documented in sixteenth century Italy (Elling 3).

Due to the abundance of timber, wood was the material of choice for truss bridges built in the U.S. throughout the nineteenth century. Wood bridges were often covered by a roof to protect the structure from the elements, creating the covered bridges romanticized in American art. By about bridges were constructed with a combination of wood and cast or wrought iron (Jackson Around this time the country's rapidly expanding road and rail systems demanded a quicker, cheaper and stronger method of bridge construction. In Sir Henry Bessemer, an English engineer and inventor, developed a process for making steel out of pig iron. This invention became known as the Bessemer process and revolutionized bridge construction, as well as many other areas CHATTOOGA RIVER BRIDGE HAER No.

Page6 of industry and technology. Bessemer's discovery enabled the construction of lighter, stronger trusses that could be easily mass produced. By the early twentieth century bridges were constructed primarily of steel and a host of manufacturing companies produced prefabricated bridges such as the Pratt, Warren and Bollman forms to meet national demand. The triangle is the basic structural unit of the truss bridge. To form a truss bridge a series of triangles or trusses, the strongest geometric figure, are joined together to create a rigid structure. A deck connects the trusses and provides a platform for traffic. "Pony trusses" are small bridges with no overhead ties or bracing. To form a "through truss" the structural triangles are tied together at both the top and bottom.

Through trusses are capable of carrying heavier loads and spanning greater distances than the smaller pony trusses. The Chattooga River Bridge is an example of a through truss bridge. CHATTOOGA RIVER BRIDGE HAER No. Page7

References

Elling, Rudoph E., and Witherspoon, Gayland B. Metal Truss Bridge Inventory. SCOOT, Columbia, SC Elling, Rudoph E., and Witherspoon, Gayland B. A of Pre-1951 Non-Metal Truss Highway Bridges of South Carolina. SCOOT, Columbia, SC Green, William of TRC Garrow and Associates, Inc. Interview. April 20, King, Joseph E. "Spans of Time, Oklahoma's Historic Bridges" div/spansoftime/index.htm. June The Planning Division Oklahoma Department of Transportation State Of Oklahoma and the Federal Highway Administration. Kloss, Julie, Sean Norris, Jeff Holland, Mary Sherrer, and William Green. Cultural Resource Survey for the U.S. 76 Bridge Replacement over the Chattooga River, Oconee County, South Carolina and Rabun County, Georgia. TRC Garrow Associates, Inc. Columbia, South Carolina. Maddex, Diane.

Built in the USA: American Buildings from Airports to Zoos. Preservation Press, Washington DC