The East Burke Street Bridge is an important vehicular and pedestrian connection between downtown Martinsburg, West Virginia, and neighboring residential areas. Equally important as the bridge’s function is its rich history dating back to the Civil War. Believed to be originally constructed in 1861, the bridge survived a Confederate attack that destroyed an adjacent bridge and other buildings.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) employs various concrete bridge superstructure options depending on span length, traffic, and future crossing requirements. Among these, pan-girders were a popular choice in the 1950s and 1960s as a viable alternative for short-span bridges due to their speed of construction, low labor requirements, and cost-effectiveness. The name “pan-girder” came from the pan-shaped formwork that was used in construction. The formwork consisted of an upper semi-circular cross-section with straight ends on the bottom of each side (Figure 1). Pan-girder bridges were cast using self-supporting metal forms that spanned between bent caps. Multiple pans could be placed next to each other to form a concrete web. They were connected with bolts that passed through holes on the sides of the forms (Breña, 2001). The pan forms supported the dead weight of the reinforcement and wet concrete, thus eliminating the need for shoring and falsework.