HomeMy WebLinkAbout20221207_MHT_SHA Addendum
707 North Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202 | 410.545.8500 | 1.866.527.0502 | Maryland Relay TTY 800.735.2258 | roads.maryland.gov
November 17, 2022
Ms. Elizabeth Hughes State Historic Preservation Officer Maryland Historical Trust
100 Community Place
Crownsville MD 21032-2023 Dear Ms. Hughes:
Introduction and Project Description
This letter serves to inform the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) of the finding by the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) on behalf of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that proposed Project No. WA881B21, US 40 over Conococheague Creek, Bridge No. 2101200 Deck Replacement in Washington County, will
have no adverse effect on historic properties. The bridge is a three-span, open spandrel concrete
arch bridge from 1936 that was constructed by the State Roads Commission as part of the US 40 improvements. MDOT SHA proposes to replace the bridge’s deck, floor beams, parapets and columns, and rehabilitate the existing arch ribs and pier supports in-place. The parapets will be detailed with recesses in the rear face that mimic the current parapet and the front face will have
a ¾” coping with a flat surface below. All spalling concrete on the pier supports will be repaired
as a part of this project. The approach roadway at both ends of the bridge will be resurfaced within MDOT SHA right-of-way. The bridge will be closed during construction and a detour will be required. MDOT SHA requires an easement area of approximately 2,788 square feet from Wilson’s Bridge Picnic Area on the east side of the bridge in order to construct a temporary
access road and temporary bridge that will provide access to Bridge No. 2101200’s support piers
during construction. This access roadway will not prohibit access to or use of the park. Other areas for temporary construction easements are also proposed as indicated on the MDOT SHA Easement Plan (Attachment 1A). Project plans are included as Attachment 1B. Note that all these plans are draft and are subject to change. These plans constitute an interagency/intra-agency
deliberative communication that is not for public disclosure under the Annotated Code of
Maryland, General Provisions Article § 4-344 (Maryland Public Information Act). Wilson’s Bridge Picnic Area (MHT Easement Area): MDOT SHA also will construct a temporary three-span, 125-foot x 20-foot steel and timber structure with precast concrete
elements to serve as the bridge piers and a 20-foot-wide stabilized construction road on fill and
gravel with a protective barrier. The bridge will be placed parallel to the north side of MDOT SHA Bridge No. 2101200. On the east bank of Conococheague Creek and within the Wilson’s Bridge Picnic Area, a temporary road beneath the MDOT SHA bridge will connect the project’s staging area to the work zone. This area is partly within the MHT-held easement area. The photo
of a similar temporary road for a bridge project is included (Attachment 2). Construction is
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planned to commence in 2024, and a public meeting will be held to provide information about the project.
The Wilson’s Bridge Picnic Area includes the 1819 stone arch Wilson’s Bridge and both the
picnic area and the bridge are owned by Washington County. The property is also a MHT Historic Preservation Easement Property that was given by the County on June 6, 1986. Wilson’s Bridge (or National Pike over Conococheague Creek) was listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on March 15, 1982 (MIHP No. WA-V-001/Easement No. E-239/NRHP
No. NR-671) and the NRHP boundary is a square immediately around the bridge. No larger area
on either side of the bridge, including any former National Pike right-of-way or the Wilson’s Bridge Picnic Area was included in the NRHP boundary. The park is open for public use and contains picnic tables and grills. The picnic area does not contribute to the significance of Wilson’s Bridge.
Funding Federal funds are anticipated for this project.
Area of Potential Effects
In determining the Area of Potential Effects (APE) for this project, MDOT SHA considered possible visual, audible, atmospheric and/or physical impacts to historic properties, both archaeological sites and standing structures, which would diminish the integrity of any
characteristics that would qualify a property for the NRHP. The APE has been defined as the
limits of disturbance (LOD) including the areas where right-of-way or easements are required, as indicated on the attached USGS quadrangle map for Mason-Dixon (Attachment 3). The archaeology survey area is also defined as the LOD.
Identification Methods and Results
Potentially significant architectural and archaeological resources were both researched as part of the historic properties investigation instigated by the proposed bridge rehabilitation project.
Architecture: MDOT SHA Architectural Historian Anne E. Bruder consulted the SHA-GIS
Cultural Resources Database, maps, tax records, right-of-way plats and State Roads Commission plans (from 1926 through 1986), newspapers and photographs, and the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP) form for Bridge No. 2101200 (WA-V-211), which was determined eligible for the NRHP by MDOT SHA on February 27, 2001. MHT concurred with the
determination on April 3, 2001. Bridge 2101200 is included in the Historic Highway Bridge
Program as a Preservation Priority Bridge. It is one of three open spandrel arch bridges in the
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state. Ms. Bruder also consulted the NRHP form for Wilson’s Bridge (WA-V-11), which is the only other standing historic property immediately adjacent to Bridge No. 2101200 in the APE. Wilson’s Bridge is also a MHT Easement Property within the Wilson’s Bridge Park. The
Wilson’s Bridge viewshed includes Bridge 2101200, but no work will occur at or to the historic
bridge or in the creek within its NRHP boundary. Field visits were conducted on April 12, August 9, and October 15, 2022. Standing structures listed in the MIHP: MDOT SHA has prepared an Addendum Form
(Attachment 4) for a building that stood on the west side of Bridge No. 2101200 prior to its
demolition. The structure called “Log Cabin (Site)” MIHP No. WA-V-002 in the MIHP form, was identified in the 1978 Washington County Standing Structures Survey as a 1-1/2 story, three-bay log structure on a field stone base. An article in the Hagerstown Daily Mail from August 21, 1976, states that the property then belonged to Eva Bowers and her sisters who were
the daughters of John Jacob and Mazie Bowers who purchased the property in 1900. Eva Bowers
described the property based on her recollections of her childhood. In addition to the dwelling, it included a blacksmith shop, a smoke house and a stable. Ms. Bowers stated that her father ran the blacksmith shop, but he also worked as a grocer according to the 1920 U.S. Census. The 1877 Lake, Griffing & Stevenson Atlas of Washington County lists a D. Bowers as living in
Wilson that year and his house was on the west side of the National Pike, while the blacksmith
shop was on the north side of what is now Rufus Wilson Road within the village of Wilson. As noted, the “Log Cabin (Site)” has been demolished. Although MDOT SHA has coordinated with MHT staff about the MIHP boundary for the
Wilson Survey District (MIHP No. WA-V-447), we have not prepared any additional
information about the standing structures within the boundary since the project’s APE will not extend beyond the US 40 Alt. right-of-way limits on the north side of the district’s boundary. Within the right-of-way, MDOT SHA will pave the highway at the approach of the bridge but that will be at-grade and will not introduce any new visual or physical elements that would alter
the character of any eligible or listed standing structure. Both the Rufus Wilson House and
Wilson School that stand on the south side of Rufus Wilson Road are well outside the project’s APE. MHT Easement Area: As noted, the Wilson’s Bridge Picnic Area consists of grass, trees, a
parking lot, picnic tables and grills. In the vicinity of the SHA bridge, it is a dirt path
(Attachment 5). As described above, MDOT SHA will cover this area with geotextile fabric, fill and gravel to create a temporary road from the staging area to a temporary bridge parallel to Bridge 2101200. There are not standing historic properties in this vicinity and the changes required during construction will be removed and the area restored to its preconstruction
appearance. MDOT SHA therefore requests that the MHT Easement Committee review the
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project description, photos and easement plat showing the area required for the temporary easement within the MHT Easement Area and agree to this temporary use.
The reconstruction of Bridge No. 2101200 will require that the concrete columns be removed to
the top of each arch rib so that the columns and superstructure can be reconstructed, including adding new parapets as described above. The pier supports, including the concrete bullnoses, will also be repaired. As noted, the parapets will be closed rather that retaining the open picket railing that is currently in place. This is due to the unsafe condition of the open railing and the legal
speed limit of 50 m.p.h. on the bridge. This speed limit exceeds the maximum speed limit of 45
m.p.h. that MDOT SHA requires in order to use a crash-tested open parapet for such bridges. MDOT SHA used a similar parapet type on Bridge No. 0301900, the Patapsco River Bridge, US 40 over the Patapsco River, which is one of three open spandrel, concrete arch bridges on the state’s highway system. MDOT SHA has determined that the rehabilitation and widening of the
deck on Bridge 2101200 will have no adverse effect on historic properties, including Bridge No.
2101200, US 40 Alt. over the Conococheague Creek and Wilson’s Bridge. We make this determination because Bridge No. 2101200 is significant as an open spandrel arch bridge. Both the design of its character defining features and the views of it from the park or Wilson’s Bridge will not be altered. As a result, the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Treatment of Historic
Properties (Rehabilitation) found at 36 CFR Part 68 as also met since no part of the rehabilitation
will create false historic details and the historic character of the bridge will be preserved. MDOT SHA’s effect finding is summarized in Attachment 5 in the Effects Table. Archaeology: MDOT SHA Consultant Archaeologist Kristofer Beadenkopf assessed the
potential of the survey area based on review of the SHA-GIS Cultural Resources Database,
historic maps, Google Street view imagery, aerial photographs, LiDAR imagery, construction plans, right-of-way plats, and soil survey data. The archaeology survey area is defined as the LOD and is mostly confined to the bridge
superstructure. However, access to the bridge will be required by building a stabilized
construction entrance and a temporary access road in the southeastern quadrant of the bridge. The temporary access road that originates in the southeastern quadrant of the bridge will also extend along the bank of the creek and under the bridge and into the northeastern quadrant of the bridge into the MHT Historic Preservation Easement Property.
One prior archaeological investigation included the survey area (Wesler et al. 1981) but no archaeological resources have been identified within the survey area. Historic maps from 1877 to 1924 do not depict any development within the survey area. Historic highway as-built plans from 1936 show several frame cabins within the floodplain and in the vicinity of the proposed access
road in the southeastern quadrant of the bridge and a one-story frame building and to the north of
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the portion of the temporary access road that extends under the bridge into the northeastern quadrant of the bridge.
The one-story frame building to the northeast of the bridge and cabin buildings that once stood to
the southeast were likely constructed in the 1920s or early 1930s and appear to have been used for seasonal recreation. Although these cabins appear on a 1976 MDOT SHA plat map (which carried over information from the 1936 plat), they are not visible on historic aerials from 1958 through 1989 and were presumably damaged or destroyed by the severe flooding that occurred in
the area in 1936 or 1952, or another flood event prior to 1958 (Hagerstown Morning Herald
Mark 19, 1936 pg.11; Hagerstown Daily Mail March 12, 1952 pp. 1-2). More permanent dwellings fronting Gateway Avenue are depicted in the southeastern quadrant of the bridge on the 1944 USGS topographic quadrangle. One of the buildings is located within
the survey area of the proposed southeastern access road. As shown through historic aerial
photographs, that building was demolished between 1982 and 1989. The SSURGO Soil Survey for Washington County describes soils within the survey area as Philo silt loam as well as Lindside silt loam and topography within the survey area varies from steeply
sloped to the west of the bridge and floodplain to the east of the bridge.
The western portions of the survey area are steeply sloped and not conducive to precontact occupation. Given topography, evidence of frequent flooding and demolition disturbance, the western part of the survey area lacks the potential to contain intact or archaeologically significant
deposits. The northeastern portion of the survey area was modified and filled during the
construction of US 40 and lacks the potential to contain intact or archaeologically significant deposits. Although located adjacent to a source of potable surface water, the southeastern portion of the
survey area has been disturbed by the construction and subsequent demolition of the dwellings in
the 1940s and 1980s respectively. In addition, the area of the southeastern portion of the survey area closest to Conococheague Creek is within the active floodplain and would not have been conducive for precontact habitation; any precontact archaeological resources that may exist in that area are likely to have been eroded by flooding. Likewise, any early twentieth century
historic deposits associated with the recreational cabins and mid-twentieth century permanent
houses would have been eroded away or disturbed by demolition activities. The proposed activities within the southeastern/northeastern portion of the survey area are limited to minor grading to construct a stabilized construction entrance off of Gateway Avenue and placement of geotextile fabric and stone on the existing ground surface to establish an access road to the creek.
Based on prior disturbance, these activities do not have the potential to affect any intact or
significant archaeological deposits.
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Given the low archaeological potential and evidence for prior disturbance, the proposed work is unlikely to affect intact, significant archaeological resources. No further work is recommended.
Review Request Please examine the attached maps and plans. We request your concurrence by December 18, 2022, that there would be no adverse effects on historic properties by the deck replacement of Bridge No. 2101200, US 40 Alt. over Conococheague Creek.
By electronic copy, we invite the Washington County Historic District Commission, Washington County Historical Trust, the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area and the Washington County Advisory Committee to provide comments and participate in the Section 106 process. Pursuant to the requirements of the implementing regulations found at 36 CFR Part 800, MDOT SHA
seeks their assistance in identifying historic preservation issues as they relate to this specific
project (see 36 CFR §800.2(c)(3) and (5), and §800.3(f) for information regarding the identification and participation of consulting parties, and §800.4, and §800.5 regarding the identification of historic properties and assessment of effects). For additional information regarding the Section 106 regulations, see the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s
website, www.achp.gov, or contact the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway
Administration or the Maryland Historical Trust. If no response is received by December 18, 2022, we will assume that these offices decline to participate. Please contact Ms. Anne E. Bruder at 410-545-8559 or abruder@mdot.maryland.gov with questions regarding standing structures for this project. Mr. Kristofer Beadenkopf may be reached at 410-545-8507 or
kbeadenkopf.consultant@mdot.maryland.gov with concerns regarding archaeology.
Sincerely,
Steve Archer Acting Assistant Division Chief Environmental Planning Division
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Attachments cc: Ms. Jill Baker, Director, Washington County Department of Planning and Zoning
(w/Attachments 1-5)
Ms. Linda Irvin-Craig, Co-Chair, Washington County Historical Advisory Committee (w/Attachments 1-5) Ms. Elizabeth Scott Shatto, Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area (w/Attachments 2-5) Ms. Pat Schooley, Washington County Historical Trust, Inc. (w/ Attachments 2-5)
Mr. Ralph Young, Co-Chair, Washington County Historical Advisory Committee
(w/Attachments 1-5) Mr. Steve Archer, Acting Assistant Division Chief, MDOT SHA-EPLD Ms. Anne E. Bruder, Architectural Historian, MDOT SHA-EPLD (w/Attachments) Mr. Kristofer Beadenkopf, Archaeologist, MDOT SHA-EPLD (w/Attachments)
Mr. Bob Maimone, Environmental Manager, MDOT SHA-EPLD (w/Attachments)
Mr. John Narer, Project Manager, MDOT SHA-OOS
Concurrence with the MDOT State Highway Administration’s Determination(s) of Eligibility and/or Effects Project Number: WA881B21 MHT Log No._________________
Project Name: US 40 Alt. over Conococheague Creek Bridge No. 2101200 Rehabilitation County: Washington Letter Date: November 18, 2022
The Maryland Historical Trust has reviewed the documentation attached to the referenced
letter and concurs with the MDOT State Highway Administration’s determinations as follows: Eligibility (as noted in the Eligibility Table [N/A]):
[ ] Concur [ ] Do Not Concur Effect (as noted in the Effects Table [Attachment 6]): [ ] No Properties Affected
[ ] No Adverse Effect
[ ] Conditioned upon the following action(s) (see comments below) [ ] Adverse Effect
Comments:
By: ______________________________________ _____________________ MD State Historic Preservation Office/ Date Maryland Historical Trust Return by U.S. Mail or Facsimile to: Mr. Steve Archer, Acting Assistant Division Chief, Environmental Planning Division, MDOT State Highway Administration, P.O. Box 717, Baltimore, MD 21203-0717 Telephone: 410-545-8870 and Facsimile: 410-209-5046 A_Proj Number:13261 CC: Bruder/Beadenkopf/Maimone
Attachment 6: Effects Table
Project Name: US 40 over Conococheague Creek Bridge No. 2101200 Deck Replacement November 15, 2022
Resource Type Impact SHPO Concur Remarks
Bridge 2101200, US 40 over Conococheague Creek, WA-V-211 S No Adverse Requested 11/2022 Wilson’s Bridge, WA-V-001 S No Adverse Requested 11/2022
Log Cabin (Site), WA-V-002 A None Outside APE, and also included in the Wilson’s Complex boundary
Effect NAE Request 11/2022
Codes: Resource Types: S (Structure), A (Archeological Site), HD (Historic District), NHL (National Historic Landmark) Impact: None, No Adverse, Adverse Effect: NPA (No Properties Affected), NAE (No Adverse Effect), AE (Adverse Effect) Bold rows indicate review action requested
Attachment 1A showing temporary road & bridge
Attachment 2 Temporary Road and Temporary Bridge Examples
Temporary Road showing stabilization along bank of stream
Example of proposed bridge