Rating:
1 vote

Watson Mill Road Bridge 10-97-01 / 10-109-02

Oglethorpe County, Georgia, and Madison County, Georgia

Photos 

Photo taken by Frank Mills in January 2009

Enlarge

BH Photo #132574

Map 

Video 

Watson Mill Covered Bridge 12-02-2010

Video posted by Eddie Douthitt

Play video on YouTube

Description 

The Watson Mill Bridge is the longest of sixteen surviving covered bridges in the state of Georgia, and one of four surviving covered bridges attributed to Washington W. King, son of prominent bridge builder and former slave Horace King. The bridge has been restored as the focal point of the Watson Mill Bridge State Park.

-- Historic American Engineering Record

Facts 

Overview
Covered lattice bridge over South Fork Broad River on Watson Mill Road
Location
Oglethorpe County, Georgia, and Madison County, Georgia
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1885; rehabilitated 1998
Builder
- Washington W. King
Design
Town lattice through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 71.9 ft.
Total length: 245.7 ft.
Deck width: 10.8 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 9.5 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on September 5, 1991
Also called
Carlton
Approximate latitude, longitude
+34.02667, -83.07500   (decimal degrees)
34°01'36" N, 83°04'30" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
17/308422/3767054 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Carlton
Average daily traffic (as of 2012)
490
Inventory numbers
GA 22150130 (Georgia bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
NRHP 91001147 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 12600 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of October 2018)
Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 93 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

19th Century (7,626)
Built 1885 (185)
Built during 1880s (2,010)
Covered (1,666)
Georgia (636)
Lattice through truss (561)
Lattice truss (593)
Madison County, Georgia (3)
NR-listed (2,961)
Oglethorpe County, Georgia (2)
One-lane traffic (7,613)
 Open (39,979)
Owned by state (16,045)
Span length 50-75 feet (10,103)
Structurally deficient (14,103)
Through truss (15,178)
Total length 175-250 feet (4,285)
Town lattice truss (265)
Truss (32,958)
Washington W. King (4)
Wooden deck (6,073)

Update Log 

  • September 1, 2015: New photo from John Loxton
  • December 24, 2014: HAER photos posted by Dave King
  • August 15, 2013: New photo from Michael Miller
  • December 28, 2011: Updated by Tony Dillon: Added builder
  • February 8, 2011: Updated by C Hanchey: Bridge is listed on the NRHP
  • December 3, 2010: New video from Eddie Douthitt
  • February 16, 2010: Updated by Eddie Douthitt: Design
  • January 25, 2009: New photos from Frank Mills

Sources 

  • Frank Mills - mills241 [at] comcast [dot] net
  • Eddie Douthitt - dalton1861 [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • C Hanchey - cmh2315fl [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
  • Michael Miller - michael_a_miller [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • HAER GA-140 - Watson Mill Bridge, Spanning South Fork Broad River, Watson Mill Road, Watson Mill Bridge State Park, Comer, Madison County, GA
  • John Loxton

Comments 

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