Bell Run S Bridge

Located east of Cambridge, Ohio, where U.S. Route 40 crossed Bell Run Creek, the S Bridge was constructed in 1828 as part of the National Road.

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Located east of Cambridge, Ohio, where U.S. Route 40 crossed Bell Run Creek, the S Bridge was constructed in 1828 as part of the National Road. ¹ It was one of several similar masonry bridges built in Ohio and Pennsylvania. A single stone arch spanned the creek on a line perpendicular to the flow of the stream, while the roadway curved on either side of the arch.

Its history was also tied to Zane’s Trace, the earlier road through the region. In 1803, that trace crossed Bell Run Creek on a ford or a log span. ³

The S bridge was built by Kinkeade & Beck ⁵ of cut stone of varying sizes laid in courses of one foot or more, and its floor was constructed of brick. ¹ Its distinctive S-shaped design was functional as well as unusual. The curves eased the approaches to the crossing, reduced the length of arch required to span the stream, avoided steep grades, and helped protect the backfill from erosion.

During World War I, the entire National Road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois, was paved in brick to accommodate military traffic. ² The Bell Run Creek S Bridge was the one last sections to be bricked, and that work was completed in 1919.

The S bridge was bypassed with a new alignment of U.S. Route 40 in 1932. ⁴ In 1936, the Ohio Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution persuaded the Ohio Highway Department to route the road around the old structure rather than replace it with a new bridge. ¹

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Details

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Sources

1. Loveday, Amos J., Jr. “S” Bridge II. National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, July 1972.
2. “The Fox Creek ‘S’ Bridge Park.” Interpretative Marker, 1997.
3. “Peters Creek S-Bridge.” The Historical Marker Database.
4. Transportation Information Mapping System. Ohio Department of Transportation.
5. “Historical.” Cambridge Jeffersonian, 29 Dec. 1904, p. 3.