Gervais Street Bridge - Columbia, SC
N 33° 59.749 W 081° 03.043
17S E 495316 N 3761693
To complement the canal construction a bridge has been used since 1827 to transport vehicles across the Congaree River.
Waymark Code: WM8YDB
Location: South Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 05/30/2010
Views: 4
One of four open spandrel arch bridges, the Gervais Street Bridge represents an early use of reinforced concrete for bridge construction in South Carolina. Its cast iron pedestals and lamps were designed by the United States Treasury Department and features the palmetto and crescent design from the state flag. From 1928 until 1953, the Gervais Street Bridge was the only Columbia Congaree River bridge, and is the earliest and most decorative of the three bridges that now cross the river.
From the Richland County website
(
visit link)
----------
The nearby historic markers:
Columbia Canal
Completed 1824. Important link in the system of waterways transporting freight between the up country and Charleston. Supplanted by railroads for transportation after 1850. Leased to Confederate government to run powder works. Enlarged 1880-95 and since sold to successive power companies.
Erected in 1938 by the Columbia Sesquicentennial Commission of 1936
----------
Congaree River Bridges
This river took its name from the Congaree Indians, a Siouan tribe which occupied the valley until the Yemassee War in 1715. The first wooden bridge here was completed in 1827. It was burned to delay the advance of Sherman's Army in 1865, and rebuilt in 1870. A concrete bridge was completed in 1927.
Erected by the City of Columbia, 1966, replacing a marker erected in 1938 by the Columbia Sesquicentennial Commission of 1936