Salisbury Street Bridge, Spanning C&O Canal (Milepost 99.65) & WM Railroad, Williamsport, Washington County, MD

Significance: Salisbury Street Bridge was built in 1879 for the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company by the Patapsco Bridge & Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland; Wendel Bollman, proprietor. It is a single-span, wrought-iron, pony-Pratt truss spanning 67 feet over the C&O Canal. The bridge has a construction depth of 9 feet and is 13 feet, 3 inches wide. It is one of two known surviving Bollman-built bridges of this simple, pony-Pratt type in the State of Maryland (not to be confused with the Bollman suspended and trussed bridge at Savage, Maryland, for which he received a patent). Wendel Bollman, whose company manufactured this bridge, is notable as an engineer for his design of an iron suspended and trussed bridge which was one of the first all-iron bridges used consistently by a railroad. Salisbury Street Bridge is significant for its association with Bollman and because it is an early example of an important, standard truss type, in unaltered condition.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-20
Survey number: HAER MD-24
Building/structure dates: 1879 Initial Construction