The Bridges of Broome County

Photo taken November 2000, by Beverly Brown

This is the Ouaquaga Bridge which crosses the Susquehanna River at Dutchtown Road in Ouaquaga, just north of Windsor. The bridge is a double lenticular truss bridge and was built in 1888 by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company of Connecticut - the same company that built the South Washington Street Bridge in Binghamton.

According to Eric DeLong, author of "Landmark American Bridges, "lenticular trusses were developed in America by William O. Douglas of Binghamton, N.Y., a graduate of West Point who patented them in 1878 and 1885… . Lenticulars were at the peak of their popularity in the 1880 and 1890s. More than a thousand were built nationwide."

DeLong claims that the Ouaquaga Bridge is New York State's only double lenticular truss bridge (the South Washington Street Bridge is a triple lenticular truss bridge.) What makes the Quaquaga Bridge special is that it is still open to vehicular traffic.