Rating:
10 votes

Brewers Bridge

Elbert County, Georgia
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Photos 

Overview

Photo taken by Eddie Douthitt

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Map 

Unusual design for the state (Updated) 

Written by Eddie Douthitt

This is the only concrete curved chord through girder bridge I know of in the state of Georgia. In this part of the country in 1924, steel through and pony truss and concrete deck arch were the most common. It's a rare find indeed.

Facts 

Overview
Abandoned concrete curved chord through girder bridge over Beaverdam Creek on Brewers Bridge Road
Location
Elbert County, Georgia
Status
Abandoned
History
Built 1924, bypassed in 2002 with opening of new bridge beside it
Builder
- Mallory and Nash
Design
Concrete curved chord through girder
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 62.0 ft.
Total length: 219.2 ft.
Deck width: 17.7 ft.
Also called
Cotton Belt Route Bridge
Cotton Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+34.14867, -82.86697   (decimal degrees)
34°08'55" N, 82°52'01" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
17/327879/3780214 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Rock Branch
Inventory numbers
GA 10500200 (Georgia bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 47183 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 01/1991)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 50.0 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 1990)
1,170

Categories 

Abandoned (1,372)
Built 1924 (494)
Built during 1920s (7,033)
Concrete girder (520)
Curved chord through girder (59)
Elbert County, Georgia (10)
Functionally obsolete (7,040)
 Georgia (386)
Girder (3,237)
Mallory and Nash (1)
Owned by county (16,488)
Span length 50-75 feet (6,996)
Through girder (1,135)
Total length 175-250 feet (2,789)

Update Log 

  • December 2, 2010: New photos from Eddie Douthitt
  • December 1, 2010: Essay added by Eddie Douthitt

Sources 

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Comments 

Brewers Bridge
Posted December 2, 2010, by Anthony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

.....or basically......what Nathan just said!

Brewers Bridge
Posted December 2, 2010, by Anthony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

I like how the arched sections are placed between the flat sections with the open railing. A very unique bridge indeed!

Brewers Bridge
Posted December 2, 2010, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

Wow, this really is a fantastic structure! Nice big floorbeams too. It is unusual because there are simple t-beam spans which separate the curved girders from each other and the abutments. I sure hope this bridge is left standing next to the replacement bridge.

Brewers Bridge
Posted December 1, 2010, by Eddie Douthitt (eddied62 [at] windstream [dot] net)

Nathan,

I've updated the design to curved chord through girder. I'm off work Thursday, so even though it's a pretty good ride from where I live, I believe I'm going to go ahead and make the trip to get pictures for it. Thanks for the info on the design.

Eddie

Brewers Bridge
Posted December 1, 2010, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

I looked at these photos, and then looked it up in the NBI, and both yield the same conclusion: this bridge is not an arch bridge, but is something far more rare, a curved chord through girder! This is an extremely significant bridge!