Home > Connecticut > Danbury > Patch Street Bridge, Spanning Kohanza Brook on Patch Street, Danbury, Fairfield County, CT
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Item Title
Patch Street Bridge, Spanning Kohanza Brook on Patch Street, Danbury, Fairfield County, CT
LocationSpanning Kohanza Brook on Patch Street,
Danbury, CT
Find maps of Danbury, CT
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1968.
Notes
Survey number HAER CT-30
Building/structure dates:
1885 initial construction
Building/structure dates:
1986 demolished
Significance: The single arch stone Patch Street Bridge was a typical example of an increasingly rare class of municipally-built structure in Connecticut, and was the best preserved and perhaps most unusual such bridge built in Danbury during the generation of response to a disastrous flood. Stone bridge durability had widespread late-19th century appeal at heavily-trafficked or flood-prone crossings. The 1869 flood in Kohanza Brook, which destroyed or damaged a number of bridges including an earlier wood crossing at Patch Street, made the town especially sensitive to new crossings over this brook, and led to a partially successful policy of replacing local wood bridges in stone c1880-1900. This period was locally transitional between predominantly wood bridges and steel or concrete crossings. Most of the local stone bridges built in this period were double arched, an often less expensive alternative, and all three surviving bridges at West, North, and Crosby streets take this form. The narrow stream bed at Patch Street probably precluded this option, and the town voted for a single arch structure built by an aging but prominent local stonemason. Peter Rowan's single arch was unique among Danbury stone bridges surviving World War II, and his span of over 32 feet was perhaps one of the largest such municipal structures in the State.
Subjects
CommerceAgricultureCivil Engineering
Related Names
Rowan, Peter
Balmforth, Elizabeth White
Stevens, Darius
Stevens, Jonathan
Collection
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. VIEW OF SOUTH ELEVATION
2. VIEW OF NORTH ELEVATION
3. VIEW OF ROAD SURFACE AND SOUTH FACE, LOOKING EAST
4. VIEW OF ROAD SURFACE AND NORTH FACE, LOOKING WEST
5. VIEW OF EAST ARCH UNDERSIDE, LOOKING EAST
6. VIEW OF WEST ARCH UNDERSIDE AND SOUTH FACE VOUSSOIRS, LOOKING NORTHWEST
7. DETAIL VIEW OF DRAIN (ABOVE) AND BRICK SEWER OPENINGS IN SOUTHWEST ARCH UNDERSIDE, LOOKING WEST
8. DETAIL VIEW OF DRAIN OPENING IN NORTHWEST ARCH UNDERSIDE, LOOKING WEST
9. VIEW OF ARCH SECTION EXPOSED DURING DEMOLITION, LOOKING EAST
10. DETAIL VIEW OF SECTION OF ARCH, NORTHEAST SPANDREL AND APPROACH WALL, AND RUBBLE/FILL EXPOSED DURING DEMOLITION, LOOKING EAST
11. VIEW OF UPPER ARCH SURFACE, NORTHWEST DRAIN OPENING, AND RUBBLE BACKING OF NORTH SPANDREL EXPOSED DURING DEMOLITION, LOOKING NORTHEAST
12. VIEW OF NORTHWEST APPROACH WALL AND RETAINING WALL (RIGHT) EXPOSED DURING DEMOLITION, LOOKING SOUTH
13. DETAIL VIEW OF TOP OF NORTHEAST DRAIN, LOOKING NORTHWEST
14. DETAIL VIEW OF LOWER CHANNEL OF CENTRAL EAST DRAIN, LOOKING WEST
15. DETAIL VIEW OF CERAMIC DRAINPIPE, CENTRAL WEST DRAIN, LOOKING EAST
16. DETAIL VIEW OF TOP OF BRICK SEWER, LOOKING EAST
17. DETAIL VIEW OF SECTION OF BRICK SEWER, LOOKING WEST
18. DETAIL VIEW OF TIMBER FOUNDATION FOOTINGS, LOOKING EAST
19. DETAIL VIEW OF THE SOUTHWESTERN MOST ARCH FOUNDATION STONE, WITH MORTAR FRAGMENT, LOOKING NORTH
20. DETAIL VIEW OF IRON-BANDED WOOD PIPE UNDER NORTHWEST ARCH CORNER, LOOKING NORTHWEST
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