Eisenhower understood the trade-offs between guns and butter. “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed,” he warned in 1953, early in his presidency. “The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.”

Meadville Bridge

Originally a wooden bridge was built at this site in 1828. It was replaced with a steel truss Whipple Bridge in 1871 by the Penn Bridge Works of New Brighton, PA. In 1907 the bridge was condemned as unsafe to carry trolley cars. In 1912, the original Whipple trusses were reinforced by grafting Baltimore trusses to the outside of the bridge to improve load-carrying capacity. Due to its age and unique engineering significance/construction the bridge was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This County bridge, although posted with a 4 ton weight limit, was carrying approximately 4500 cars per day over French Creek when the bridge was closed due to structural and safety issues, on March 23, 2007. It remains closed.

About The Bridge

The Mead Avenue Bridge is unique in that it is essentially two bridges in one. The original bridge was built from 1871-1872. In 1912, Baltimore trusses were added to the bridge, with the intention of being emergency repairs to increase the weight limit of the bridge for ten years. Instead, they proved sufficient to produce essentially continuous service for 95 years! Additional substantial work was done on the bridge in 1937. The original part of the bridge is an extremely old 1871 truss structure, and is a rear two-span example of the Whipple truss configuration. However, perhaps the most important element of significance is that the bridge uses rare Keystone columns for vertical members and end posts. Keystone Columns are an extremely rare form of built-up member, and are most commonly found on Wrought Iron Bridge Company bowstring truss bridges such as the Messerall Road Bridge, which are themselves rare. The Whipple truss bridge was built by the Penn Bridge Works of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Keystone was the company that assembled the columns for the bridge. Union Iron Mills was where the iron originated from, according to stamps on the bridge. The portal bracing on this bridge has been through a lot, and is damaged and or missing in many places, particularly at the western end. However, most of this decorative bracing is intact at the eastern end of the bridge. The design of the portal bracing, featuring a complex assembly of star-shaped objects is very ornate and complex, and greatly adds to the beauty of the bridge, forming a structure that is truly a work of art. Perhaps the most innovative compliment to this portal bracing in the form of decorative archways at the end of the sidewalks that even feature 1871 plaques overhead and their own unique portal design made up of a pattern of circles. These cantilevered sidewalks also feature an unusual design of lattice railing, which only further adds to the interest and appearance of the bridge. The attention to detail and appearance on this bridge is a perfect example of what sets a historic truss bridge apart from modern bridges of the 21st century.

The trusses that were added to the bridge date to 1912 and feature a Baltimore truss configuration and have riveted connections. It was built by Rodgers Brothers Company of Albion, Pennsylvania. Combined, these trusses convey an unusually strong sense of passing through a tunnel, which makes this bridge a fun experience to cross.

Henzleybridge:

"Free cheese is only found in a mousetrap."

ARSENIY P. YATSENYUK, an opposition politician in Ukraine, referring to $15 billion in loans promised to his country by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

0 dimension – Point: a butterfly in the air

Can only transmit compression or tension

1 dimension – Line: a train on the tracks

Can only transmit tension, compression or bending and lateral shear

2 dimension – Plane: a skater on the ice

Can only transmit compression, tension, shear and bending

3 dimension – Volume: a fly caught in amber