Just beyond the C&O Canal is the Potomac River and a toll bridge providing ready access to Greensprings, West Virginia. It was built by Melvin R. Carpenter, a tie inspector for the B&O Railroad who was motivated by the need to make regular trips into Greensprings that would otherwise require a ferry or a car ride to the nearest bridge 15 miles away. The 200-foot-long, 10-foot-wide bridge is built of steel beams resting on concrete pilings and carrying a roadbed of oak planks custom-made at a local sawmill. A toll booth still collects a fee for use; it is the only privately owned toll bridge in the state.
