Overall Bridge

Overall Bridge in Page County, Bridge No. 1990, is a historically innovative metal truss bridge built in 1938 as part of a major realignment of present-day U.S. Route 340, then called State Route 12, between Luray and Front Royal. The earlier road alignment followed the rugged terrain in a back-and-forth pattern suited to horse-drawn wagons but not automobiles, and as Virginia reworked older roads for faster-moving vehicles, at least two-thirds of the roadway between Luray and Front Royal was realigned when U.S. Route 340 was completed late in the 1930s and the bridge was constructed. The bridge is a single-span Pratt deck arch metal truss with two T-beam concrete approach spans, with the road deck carried on top of arched trusses rather than between supporting trusses on their bottom chords as on most Pratt bridges. Arch spans suited high crossings with solid rock foundations like this one and were rarely used at sites with low banks and alluvial soil. The main span is about 123 feet long, the total length is about 245 feet, and the Virginia State Highway Department developed standard designs for the arches and approach spans. From the late 1920s through the next two decades, the department typically used cork and concrete rails on bridges, with sheets of cork as fillers where the concrete cross rails were inserted into the railings' concrete posts. Because of its historical significance, Bridge No. 1990 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 2008.

Virginia · United States