Peters Creek S Bridge

The crossing is one of several masonry S bridges built in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and it contains a 30-foot stone arch span over the creek, set on a line perpendicular to the stream’s flow, while the roadway curves on either side of the arch. ² Built of cut stone laid in courses of one foot or more, the S Bridge originally had a brick floor. ¹ Its distinctive S-shaped form is both unusual and practical. The curves ease the approaches to the crossing, reduce the length of arch needed to span the stream, avoid steeper grades, and help protect the backfill from erosion.

Its history was also tied to Zane’s Trace, the earlier road through the region. In 1803, that trace crossed Peters Creek a few hundred yards to the north, where logs were used to bridge the stream. ³

During World War I, the entire National Road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois, was paved in brick to accommodate military traffic. ² The Peters 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

After years of neglect and damage from four successive floods in 2005, the bridge had deteriorated to the point that it was near collapse. ³ Its condition had become so severe that simple repairs would not have been enough to save it. Instead, the bridge underwent a complete rehabilitation that involved removing much of the original structure and rebuilding it. Work began in the spring of 2007 and was completed in November. Using modern tools and materials, the bridge was not only rehabilitated but also strengthened to better withstand future floods.