Bridgeport Lamp Chimney Company Bowstring Concrete Arch Bridge
The Bridgeport Lamp Chimney Company Bowstring Concrete Arch Bridge is a small historic bridge in Bridgeport, West Virginia, located between Mechanic Street and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks. Built in 1924 and designed by Frank Duff McEnteer, it is a bowstring reinforced concrete arch—a early example of using reinforced concrete for bridges. It was built to carry hand carts with glass products from the Bridgeport glass plant to a warehouse across Simpson Creek and is the only remaining structure from the original glass works, later used by the Master Glass Company.
The bridge measures 70 feet 4 inches long (21.44 meters) and 8 feet 11.8 inches wide (2.738 meters), with the arch’s centerline about 10 feet above the deck (3.0 meters). It used special reinforcing bars, including Havemeyer reinforcement from the Concrete Steel Company of New York or similar bars from Cambria Iron Works of Johnstown, Pennsylvania; stirrups were smooth bars about 1/4 inch in diameter (about 6.4 mm).
This bridge, built by Frank Duff McEnteer and his Concrete Steel Bridge Company, is an elegant example of early reinforced concrete bridge design and a reminder of the once-flourishing glass industry in the Clarksburg area, which thrived on cheap natural gas and abundant quartzite.
The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 27, 1997.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 10:29 (CET).