historic context of maryland highway bridges built between 1948 ...

SECTIONSIXResults of Field InvestigationsFalls and Herrington Manor State Parks in the 1930s. Increased automobile traffic between US219 and the two state parks necessitated the building of the present Sang Run Road Bridge in1955.An example of a highway bridge in Maryland dating from the 1948-1960 period eligible for theNational Register under Criterion A on the state level is the MD 213 Bridge over the Chesapeake& Delaware Canal (Bridge CE0100). The bridge is associated with the historically significantChesapeake & Delaware Canal and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway of which the canal is nowa part. The canal, completed in 1829 and widened numerous times during the twentieth century,links the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay, and was built to provide a shortened inlandroute between Philadelphia and Baltimore. The MD 213 Bridge, completed in 1949, is associatedwith the canal‘s period of ownership (1919-present) by the US Army Corps of Engineers, whichmaintains and operates the canal and the several bridges that cross over it in both Delaware andMaryland. The present MD 213 Bridge was built to replace an earlier mechanical lift bridge alsobuilt by the USACE and destroyed following a 1942 freighter collision.Criterion B“Properties can be eligible for the National Register if they are associated with the lives ofpersons significant in our past.”A bridge may be eligible for the National Register under Criterion B if it is associated withindividuals or groups important to the history of a Maryland community, region, the State ofMaryland or the nation (Spero and Berger & Associates 1995: C-5). A bridge may also beeligible if it can be associated with persons of local, state, or national importance if they areassociated with political, economic, military or social historical events. Evaluating a singlestructure, such as a bridge, for the National Register under Criterion B involves conductingintensive research on the bridge‘s construction history, and its association with prominentindividuals. A bridge may be considered eligible for the National Register under Criterion B forits association with individual engineers, architects and builders or like commercial firms oflocal, state or national importance. However, because this association is almost always in thecontext of the individual‘s capacity as a designer, Criterion C (see below) is usually moreapplicable. For this reason, application of Criterion B in evaluating the eligibility of an individualbridge for listing in the National Register is rare.Criterion C“Properties can be eligible for the National Register if they embody the distinctivecharacteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of amaster, or that possess high artistic value, or that represent a significant and distinguishableentity whose components may lack individual distinction.”Evaluating a single structure, such as a bridge, for the National Register under Criterion Cinvolves conducting intensive research on the bridge‘s construction history and its associationwith prominent bridge designers or design/engineering companies. Research should establishboth the rarity and importance of the bridge type during the study period. For example, metaltruss highway bridges are associated with the adoption of uniform engineering standards and theuse of simplified, functional (primarily Warren and Pratt type truss) designs during the early and\15-SEP-11\\ 7-2