Threemile Run (Tohickon Creek tributary) explained

Threemile Run
Name Other:Three Mile Run
Pushpin Map:USA Pennsylvania
Pushpin Map Size:250
Pushpin Map Caption:Threemile Run
Pushpin Map Alt:pushpin map showing location of Threemile Run
Subdivision Type1:Country
Subdivision Name1:United States
Subdivision Type2:State
Subdivision Name2:Pennsylvania
Subdivision Type3:County
Subdivision Name3:Bucks
Subdivision Type4:Township
Subdivision Name4:West Rockhill, East Rockhill
Length:5.57miles
Source1 Elevation:500feet
Mouth Elevation:394feet
Progression:Threemile Run → Lake NockamixonTohickon CreekDelaware RiverDelaware Bay
River System:Delaware River
Basin Size:8.11sqmi
Waterbodies:Lake Nockamixon
Bridges:Forrest Road
Old Mill Road
South Bethlehem Pike (South West End Boulevard)
Hill Road
Stone Edge Road
North Rockhill Road
West Rock Road
Pennsylvania Route 313 (Doylestown Pike, Dublin Pike)

Threemile Run (Three Mile Run) is a tributary of the Tohickon Creek in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the United States and is part of the Delaware River watershed.

History

Threemile Run was named so long before it was so noted in John Scully's map of the Province of Pennsylvania in 1770. It flows in the first valley north of the East Branch Perkiomen Creek and powered several grist mills in its early days.[1]

Statistics

Threemile Run's GNIS identification number is 1189555, its Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources identification number is 03168. The stream drains 8.11sqmi and reaches its confluence at the Tohickon Creek's 17.60 river mile within the banks of Lake Nockamixon.

Course

Threemile Run rises in West Rockhill Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, from an unnamed pond at an elevation of 500feet next to Catch Basin Road and flows southeast, south, then southeast and meets a tributary from the right bank, then turns right to flow northeast. Threemile drained into the Tohickon Creek before the Tohickon was dammed in 1972 to form Lake Nockamixon. After the lake was formed, it drains into the lake about ¾ mile from the Tohickon at an elevation of 394feet, resulting in an average slope of 19.03 feet per mile (3.35 meters per kilometer).

Geology

The Brunswick Formation is a sedimentary layer of rock consisting of mudstone, siltstone, and beds of green, brown, and red-brown shale. Mineralogy consists of argillite and hornfels. About 200 million years ago, magma intruded into the Brunswick and cooled quickly forming a fine grained diabase consisting of primarily labradorite and augite. Haycock Mountain (on the right bank of the creek) and several other features in the area are remnants of the intrusion after the Brunswick has eroded away over time. The first mile or so of Threemile Run's course is located in a region of diabase rock which intruded into the local sedimentary layers of the Brunswick Formation during the Jurassic and the Triassic, then the remaining course flows over the Brunswick Formation.[2]

Crossings and Bridges

Crossing NBI Number Length Lanes Spans Material/Design Built Reconstructed LatitudeLongitude
Pennsylvania Route 313 (Doylestown Pike, Dublin Pike)699312.2m (40feet)2Concrete Arch-Deck193040°24'5675°16'14"W
West Rock Road751624m (79feet)21Prestressed concrete box beam or girders-multiple197940°24'7.1"N75°17'1.06"W
North Rockhill Road
Stone Edge Road
Hill Road751912m (39feet)21Concrete Tee Beam193040°23'8"N75°18'27"W
South Old Bethlehem Pike (Park Avenue)75029m (30feet)21Prestressed concrete box beam or girders - Multiple195540°22'57.3"N75°18'45"W
South Bethlehem Pike (South West End Boulevard)73856.7m (22feet)Concrete Tee Beam, concrete cast-in-place deck, bituminous surface193640°22'50"N75°19'W
Old Mill Road (Township Road T360)75139m (30feet)11Continuous concrete stringer/multi-beam or girder193040°22'46.9"N75°19'10.2"W
Forrest Road

Notes and References

  1. MacReynolds, George, Place Names in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Doylestown, Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, PA, 1942, P1.
  2. Web site: Pennsylvania Geological Survey . https://web.archive.org/web/20140411084629/http://www.gis.dcnr.state.pa.us/geology/index.html . dead . April 11, 2014 . PaGEODE . Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources . 16 December 2017.