Rock Creek Bridge

Visited 8/20/13, documented the bridge in numerous photos; I'll upload these here in the coming weeks once I sort them out, but I did post one photo to serve as a representation of the bridge, as there were no photos of it here yet.

The southern/west end of the road the bridge is on is quite significantly abandoned, and getting to it required quite a bit of hiking. The north/east part of the road past the bridge looks like it's still in use.

With an unusual appearance brought on by a very long approach span on the south side and very little to no approach span on the north end, the abandoned through truss is a great little treasure hidden away on a very scenic creek. Internet references suggest it's a popular stop for people traveling down the creek by canoe or whatnot when it's passable.

The NBI data understates the poor condition of the deck - since being abandoned, the wooden deck has been steadily decaying, and there are indeed several missing boards. Small plants and moss grow fairly thickly on both the approach span and bridge deck itself, with shrubs and poison ivy at the end of the approach. It's not gonna serve traffic anytime soon. The structure itself, though, looks fairly solid, though I suspect before too long sections of the deck will probably rot completely and fall away, making it unsuitable for walking across, a feat that's already a delicate procedure. The guard rails are either not present or have been stolen, as I'm told has happened to closed truss bridges in the area before; people haul the guard rails off for scrap. The lack of this safety feature, seen in photos I'll upload later, combined with the wood deck, makes the bridge seem very light and open.

The bridge has been closed for several years obviously, severing the county road for through traffic, assuming anyone ever would use this particular winding, one-lane narrow nightmare of a road. As the road the bridge is on appears to be the only road on the map for several miles through this area that connects to larger roads to the east and west, I figure it will eventually be lost, unless the county abandons the road. Even if so, the bridge could be knocked off its abutments by flooding or large trees crashing into it during floods.