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This triple-span, reinforced-concrete arch took over for Wilson Bridge in 1936, when heavy automobile and truck traffic became too much for the older bridge. The new bridge, an open-spandrel arch, is an elegant design that pays tribute to the old stone arch. The road, still called the National Pike, was chartered by Maryland in 1792 as a turnpike to connect Frederick and Cumberland. Opened in 1823, it was impassable by 1889, when a storm wrecked many of its bridges. The Good Roads Act of 1916 provided federal funding to repair the road, which has since been numerically designated as US 40.
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