By Kate Shunney, The Morgan Messenger
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — Local historian and preservationist David Abruzzi has succeeded in his most recent effort to list western Morgan County structures on the National Register of Historic Places.
These structures, unlike his earlier projects, are not buildings but bridges across the Cacapon River in Great Cacapon and Largent.
“Last count that I know of was there were only 34 bridges in all of WV listed on the National Register of Historic Places so seeing the next two come from Morgan County is significant,” Abruzzi said in announcing the official listing, which was approved early last month.
He researched the backgrounds and architecture and construction of the 1916 Daniel Luten Concrete Arch Bridge at Largent and the 1937 Parker Through Truss Bridge at Great Cacapon.
The National Park Service has now approved their listing on the National Register.
His research included sources from government documents to local history books to newspaper accounts of public project bids and construction.
The Parker Through Truss bridge at Great Cacapon was built in 1937 to replace an earlier truss bridge that got destroyed by the 1936 flood. Construction costs were awarded in the amount of $94,455, Abruzzi reported in his listing application.
The bridge, which carries traffic along Cacapon Road over the Cacapon River near its junction with the Potomac River, has been in continuous use for 88 years. What makes it unique is the steel truss design that holds a concrete deck for traffic.
“The primary span of the bridge is a steel truss superstructure, and a metal grate deck with a concrete layer and an asphalt overlay. The steel superstructure is a Parker truss, a polygonal-top subtype of the Pratt type. The approach from the east is three spans utilizing steel girders resting on a series of piers,” the historic application states. “The west approach is a single span with steel girders extending from the pier supporting the west end of the truss to the abutment. While the bridge has received some minor modifications over its 88 years of use it maintains the majority of its distinctive and defining characteristics and as such retains its historic integrity”
