By William “Skip” Deegans
Shown in the circa 1940 photograph is the old bridge where U.S. Route 60 crossed the Meadow River at McRoss, a few miles east of Rainelle. The reinforced concrete arch bridge was constructed in 1914 by the Luten Bridge Company, and when built its 100-foot span made it the longest arch bridge in West Virginia.
John Dougher, Jr., a Greenbrier Countian, was the construction superintendent. The bridge caught the attention of the editor of The Greenbrier Independent who wrote, “It is pleasant to think that bridges like this one, which, as Mr. Dougher, the able, modest and efficient engineer in charge justly remarked would be an ornament in any city park, are being constructed in place of the flimsy affairs that in past times have masqueraded as bridges in this part of the State.”
U.S. Route 60 was later moved down river and a much less interesting steel bridge replaced the old arch bridge that is no longer extant. Many of the Luten bridges are still in use, and some are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo courtesy of the West Virginia University West Virginia & Regional History Center.
Sources: The Greenbrier Independent, State of Tennessee Survey Report For Historic Highway Bridges.