Mercer County Engineer's Office

HISTORIC BRIDGE - BRIDGE 2302

Mercer County Bridge No. 2302 was a structure eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. An Historic Bridge Recordation document was prepared to permit replacement of this structure. The Oakland Avenue Bridge in the City of Sharon carries Oakland Avenue across the 60-100 foot-deep ravine containing U.S. Route 62 (S.R. 0062) and Pine Run. The existing Oakland Avenue Bridge is a 300 foot-long structure built of reinforced concrete and executed in the Stripped Classicism Style. An aluminum plaque attached to the northern end of the western balustrade indicates that the bridge was designed by Frank P. Graham, Engineer and was constructed in 1936 by the contracting firm of Freeland Inc. The main arch of the Bridge is 185 feet long and rises 62 feet above U.S. Route 62. The dual-rib, open-spandrel arch exhibits thin rectangular spandrel columns with small, rectangular, plain capitals and bases. The main arch piers are detailed with molded, incised pilasters. Plain, regularly segmented portions mark the balustrades The Bridge is an excellent example of design utilizing the plasticity of reinforced concrete as achieved by American engineers in the period 1910-1940.

The previous Oakland Avenue Bridge was constructed in 1936 over Pine Run and a railroad spur. The railroad, originally the Sharon and Greenfield Railroad, had been constructed primarily to haul coal from mines southeast of Sharon to the canal basin in Sharon. It was removed prior to the construction of U.S. Route 62 (then Pennsylvania Legislative Route 74 Parallel). A previous Oakland Avenue Bridge was constructed in the period 1901 to 1908, and was a Warren deck-truss bridge set on steel bents. It was removed prior to construction of the Bridge in 1936.

'The plaque read "Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works PA1168R, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Oakland Avenue Bridge, 1936, County Commissioners D.K. Callahan, Robert Jamieson, George W. Boyd, Engineer - Frank P. Graham, Solicitor - Benj. H. Marks, Contractor - Freeland, Inc."

The Oakland Avenue Bridge was a significant representative example of the many reinforced concrete automotive bridges built across Pennsylvania and surrounding states during the first half of the twentieth century to facilitate efficient transportation within the state's emerging highway system.