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West Paden Twin, Columbia County

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Inventory Number: PA/38-19-12#2
County: Columbia County
Township: Fishing Creek
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: West Paden Twin
Crosses: Huntington Creek
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 103'
Roadway Width:
Built: 2008
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N41 06.419
Longitude: W076 21.399
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 4.0 miles northeast of jct PA93 and Orangeville on PA487, then 0.4 miles right on Winding Rd. (SR1020) and 0.1 miles right on Twin Bridges Ln. (TR565). 0.2 miles east of Forks.

West Paden Bridge, Fishing Creek, Columbia County, PA. Built 2008
Bob Sheldon Photo, September 24, 2008

West Paden Bridge, Fishing Creek, Columbia County, PA. Built 2008
Bob Sheldon Photo, October 17, 2008

Comments:
County #121. 8-panel truss. The Paden twin bridges were built in 1850 for a total cost of $750.00. Per The Columbia Democrat (Bloomsburg), September 22, 1849, "BRIDGE LETTINGS. - PROPOSALS will be received by the County Commissioners, on Tuesday the 25th day of September, 1849, between the hours of 1 & 3 o'clock, P.M. at the house of John Mordon, Sr. in Mountpleasant township, for building A Wooden Arch Bridge over little Fishingereek in said township, of the following dimensions, viz : Length of Superstructure, 80 feet, width 18 feet from out to out, abutments 11 feet in height from low water mark and 9 feet in thickness at skewbacks wingwalls, west side, 18 feet east side 25 feet. ALSO, PROPOSALS will be received by the Co. Commissioners, on Wednesday the 26th day of September, 1849, between the hours of 1 and 3 o'clock P.M., at the house of John Lazarus in Fishingcreek township, for building A Wooden Arch Bridge over Big Fishingcreek in said township, of the following dimensions, viz ; Length of superstucture 90 feet width 18 feet from out to out, abutments 17 feet in height from low water mark and 9 feet in thickness at skewback, wingwalls, west side 20 feet, east side 25 feet. ALSO, At the same time and place as the above, proposals will be received by the County Commissioners for building A Wooden Arch Bridge, over Huntington creek near its mouth, of the following dimensions, viz : Length of superstructure 80 feet, width 18 feet from out to out, abutments 13 feet in height from low water mark and 9 feet in thickness at skewbacks, wing-walls, north side 18 feet, south side 23 feet. Plans and specifications will be exhibited on day of letting. By order of the County Commissioners. WESLEY ROAT, Clerk. COM'S. OFFICE, Bloomsburg, September 8, 1849." They were both either extensively repaired or rebuilt in 1884 by W.C. Pennington. They were the last remaining twin bridges in Pennsylvania until the West Paden Bridge was washed away in a flood on June 28, 2006. This one is the northernmost of the two. They were named after John Paden who owned a nearby sawmill. They were bypassed in 1962. TR565 is a bypassed section of PA120, formerly known as Winding Road, SR1020, LR19068. A new West Paden Bridge was built during the summer and fall of 2008.

Sources:
The Columbia Democrat (Bloomsburg), September 22, 1849, p.3.
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, March 2009
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 108

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