County: Hunterdon
Location: Hunterdon County
Year Listed: 1995
Status: Progress Made
UPDATES:
Progress has been made on the preservation of these historic bridges. Strimple’s Mill Road Bridge over Lockatong Creek was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 14, 2016. In January 2019, the federal government contributed over $2 million for the restoration of the bridge on Rosemont-Raven Rock Road crossing the Lockatong Creek.
Recent Press:
Strimple’s Mill Road Bridge – https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/16000693.htm
January 2019 – https://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/2014/07/hunterdon_county_bridge_likely.html
1997 Trust grant to Higginsville Road Bridges, link Hunterdon and Somerset counties
threatened by neglect, development pressures for replacement, deferred maintenance
represent state industrial heritage, skill that developed and made skyscrapers possible
8/00 county rejected preservation proposal for Peck’s Ferry Bridge (NR) DEP has pictures
4/00 A1673 grants to local govents to repair or rebuilt structuraly deficient bridges carrying county or municipal roads
1/01 North Jersey Transportation Planning gave $140,000 to Hunterdon C. for planning preservation of Rockefellow’s Mills Road Bridge
Bridges continue to be lost due to accident, but county conducted survey, is developing preservation management plan and will do aggressive public outreach
DESCRIPTION:
New Jersey’s historic truss bridges stand as a testament to the States’ industrial heritage as well as its geographical location as a vital link between the major urban centers of New York City and Philadelphia, as well as between the industrial center of metro-New York and the energy supplying coal mines of Pennsylvania.
The significance of truss bridges extends beyond the importance of the bridges alone. It has been argued that these bridges were the precursor to the iron and steel frame skyscrapers which never would have been possible without the understanding of the materials achieved through bridge experimentation.
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