Gervais Street Bridge, Arched road bridge in Columbia, United States.
Gervais Street Bridge is a reinforced concrete arch bridge with open spandrels, carrying US 1 and US 378 across the Congaree River. It links Gervais Street on the east bank to Meeting Street on the west bank. The roadway is flanked by sidewalks, and green-painted cast iron lamp posts line the balustrades.
This is the third bridge at this crossing. A wooden bridge, completed around 1827 by the Columbia Bridge Company, was burned by Confederate troops in 1865; its replacement of 1870 was bought by Richland County with Lexington County in 1912. The current reinforced concrete bridge was built from February 1926 to June 1928, designed by state highway engineer Joseph W. Barnwell of Charleston and built by the Hardaway Contracting Company of Columbus, Georgia. It was listed on the National Register on 25 November 1980.
The green cast iron lamp posts carry a letter C and palmetto palms on their bases, a vine pattern on the eight-sided shaft, and acanthus leaves at the necking. The C likely refers to Columbia, and the palmetto is South Carolina's state tree. The fixtures were part of Joseph W. Barnwell's 1926 design.
The bridge carries US 1 and US 378, linking Gervais Street on the east bank with Meeting Street on the west bank. Roadway and sidewalks run side by side, so walkers cross beside moving traffic. The remains of the two earlier bridges lie just north of the current span.
The remains of the two earlier bridges on this site, a wooden one finished around 1827 and an 1870 replacement, are still visible just north of the current span. The first was burned by the Confederate States Army in 1865 to slow General Sherman's advance.
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