The Harpold Bridge is a through truss bridge that carries CR 25 and formerly US Route 21 over Mill Creek near Ripley, West Virginia.
Built in 1922, the Harpold Bridge is a Pratt through truss structure spanning Mill Creek, south of Ripley. Its construction was part of an extensive project to enhance US Route 21 between Charleston and Parkersburg. 1 This included widening the road for two eight-foot-wide concrete lanes and erecting modern bridges over streams.
By 1949, US Route 21 was rerouted from Ripley to Fairplain, leading to the Harpold Bridge’s reclassification as County Route 25. It underwent rehabilitation in 1984.
In March 2015, the bridge was rechristened as the Harry Ripley Memorial Bridge in honor of a settler from the 1820s. 2 Ripley, an itinerant preacher, tragically drowned near the bridge location just days before marrying a local woman, at the age of 31.
Information
- State: West Virginia
- Route: CR 21
- Type: Pratt Through Truss
- Status: Active - Automobile
- Total Length: 103'
- Main Span Length: 98'
- Deck Width: 18.4'
- Above Vertical Clearance: 12.1'
Sources
- “Project 3075-A.” State of West Virginia State Road Commission, 1921.
- “HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 63.” West Virginia Legislature, 9 Mar. 2015.