{"nrhp_refnum":"72001390","name":"Cartersville Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"VA 45 over James River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cartersville","county":"Cumberland County","state":"VA","lat":37.67024030400006,"lon":-78.08700206199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-09-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-span composite timber and cast-iron truss bridge carrying Route 45 over the James River at Cartersville, linking Cumberland and Goochland Counties, Virginia. Its stone piers and abutments date from 1822 and the present superstructure from 1883-1884.","why_significant":"It was described as the last major timber bridge across the James River. Its heavy timber framing with cast-iron connections, based on a Pratt truss, is a rare example of composite construction. Together with the 1822 stone piers and abutments, it is called an important engineering landmark.","narrative":"Carrying Route 45 across the James River between Cartersville and Pemberton, this bridge combined heavy timber members with cast-iron connections in a truss based on the Pratt design. It had six spans and an overall length of 843 feet, with a timber-surfaced roadway thirteen feet wide. The stone piers and abutments came from the first bridge, a wooden covered structure built under contractor David Scott after the Cartersville Bridge Company was chartered in 1819 and completed in 1822. That bridge proved poorly built, and a diarist in 1827 judged its arches to be failing. A second bridge followed in 1841-1842, then a ferry served the crossing until the superstructure was rebuilt in the 1880s with combined iron and wood. Its rare composite construction and its standing as the last major timber bridge over the James River made it an engineering landmark. A flood in June 1972 left only two end spans and the piers.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific dates 1822, 1842, 1883)","architect_builder":"David Scott of Maryland (contractor, first bridge, 1820); Joseph N. Carrington (contractor, second bridge, 1842)","architectural_style":"Composite timber and cast-iron truss construction, based on the Pratt truss","criteria":[],"status_note":"Damaged by flood in June 1972; only two end spans and the stone piers remain. Earlier described as in good condition, altered, with the floor beams replaced in 1955.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.514996-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/53/6803/41680353/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/72001390.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001390/1a33c57248-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001390/1a33c57248-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Ser Amantio di Nicolao","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cartersville_Bridge_across_the_James.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ser Amantio di Nicolao</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cartersville_Bridge_across_the_James.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680353","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartersville_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5047263"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/cumberland-county/cartersville-bridge-72001390/"}