Wagon Wheel Bridge
The Significance of the Des Moines River Wagon Bridge
Condensed from a report prepared for HAER in 1995"This bridge is one of the few remaining large-scale wagon trusses in Iowa. A locally important crossing of a major river, it is one of the few multiple span pin-connected Pratt trusses remaining in the state. One of its four spans is a long-span Pennsylvania through truss, an important sub-type of the Pratt truss.
"The Wagon Bridge is an approximately 703' four-span steel bridge composed, begining at the east end, of a timber stringer approach span of about 160', one approximately 124' pin-connected Pennsylvania through truss, one approximately 200' pin-connected Pratt through truss, and one approximately 96' pin-connected Pratt through truss. The roadway width is 16'-0" and has a timber deck. The substructure consists of concrete-filled steel cylindrical piers with plate or bar diaphragms, and a concrete abutment at the west end. This abutment was originally constructed of stone, and may have been originally covered with concrete.
"The main span of this bridge is one of the oldest and best preserved large wagon trusses in Iowa. The bridge continues to serve as a locally important stream crossing, and also serves as an excellent example of the work of a very prolific and important Iowa bridge company, about which relatively little is known."
This document was prepared as part of the Iowa Historic Bridges Recording Project performed durng the Summer of 1995 by the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). The project was sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT). Preliminary research on this bridge was performed by Clayton B. Fraser of Fraserdesign, Loveland, CO. --Robert W. Jackson, August 1995
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Des Moines River on 200th Street west of Boone
- Location
- Boone County, Iowa
- Status
- Open to pedestrians only
- History
- Built 1909; closed to traffic in 2008 due to flood damage on an approach span; recently reopened to pedestrians
- Builder
- - Iowa Bridge Co. of Des Moines, Iowa
- Design
- Pennsylvania through truss and three Pratt through truss spans consisting of Portal bracings are all A-frame
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 200.1 ft.
Total length: 703.1 ft.
Deck width: 16.1 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 13.7 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places
- Also called
- Bluff Creek Bridge
Wagon Bridge
Des Moines River Bridge
Boone Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +42.06296, -93.96936 (decimal degrees)
42°03'47" N, 93°58'10" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/419798/4657221 (zone/easting/northing)
- Land survey
- T. 84 N., R. 27 W., Sec. 26
- USGS topographic map
- Boone West
- Inventory numbers
- IA 77850 (Iowa bridge number)
NRHP 98000765 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 12895 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection (as of 05/2007)
- Deck condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 15.7 (out of 100) - Average daily traffic (as of 2007)
- 80
Update Log
- May 15, 2013: Updated by Jason Smith: Bridge is now open to pedestrians!
- October 11, 2012: Updated by Jason Smith: Added category "A-frame portal"
- October 19, 2010: Updated by Jason Smith: Changed the name of the bridge and added some info on it
- July 30, 2010: New Street View added by Jason Smith
- February 19, 2010: Updated by J.R. Manning: Updated bridge data
- October 5, 2009: Updated by J.R. Manning: Added alternate name
- August 20, 2008: Essay added by J.R. Manning
- August 19, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning: Updated NRHP Listing
- July 8, 2008: Updated by Kim Harvey: updated status on bridge
- March 25, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning: Added historical data
Sources
- J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
- Historic Bridges of Iowa - History of the Des Moines River Wagon Bridge
- Kim Harvey
- HAER IA-45 - Des Moines River Wagon Bridge
- Jason Smith - JDSmith77 [at] gmx [dot] net
Comments
When I was here in July 2012, the deck had been repaired
Good news in the world of historic bridges: The referendum which would grant a $6 million bond to tear down and replace the Wagon Wheel Bridge was voted down considerably. Now it's just a matter of finding a more constructive way to reuse the bridge. Please have a look at the article I wrote:
http://thebridgehunter.areavoices.com/2010/11/06/wagon-wheel-bridge-saved-for-now-that-is/
JS
News from the Bridgehunter's Chronicles:
http://thebridgehunter.areavoices.com/2010/10/25/wagon-wheel-bridge-in-boone-iowa/
It is on the Nov. 2, 2010 election ballot in Boone County to remove this historic bridge and replace it 60 ft. away by constructing a new and different bridge, both jobs paid for by county homeowner taxes, due to concern by board of supervisors of Boone County that it may fall into the Des Moines River or pose a hazard. The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places. I and others would like to see the wagon bridge become a pedestrian and bicycle bridge, and continue to be used by fishermen, campers and photographers, but there are no county funds for this. Can anyone help?
The local name for this bridge is "The Wagon Wheel Bridge". I have never heard it called anything else. It is now closed but there are still rumblings about turning it into a pedestrian bridge. I hope it happens--neat old bridge!
Wagon Wheel was open until just a couple of years ago and traveling in a vehicle across it made you feel as if you were a stunt man trusting your life to a noisy, clattering old bridge, but you still could not help making the journey across just for the experience.
Bill Jepsen
Boone County, Iowa
I went to this bridge today, hoping to get a look at the new, still unfinished Kate Shelley Bridge. Apparently they fixed whatever flood damage there was because a couple of people were using it to get to the other side - one of them looked like a UP official. I walked out on it and everthing appeared normal.
Does anyone know how the property owners on the west side of the river get to their homes? The last time I was there, Juneberry Road was closed beneath the Kate Shelly Bridge. Without this bridge and without Juneberry Road access, those properties are inaccessible.
That's amazing. That bridge probably stood for a hundred years and only just now was damaged by this "hundred year flood". Pretty amazing, the power of nature.
Currently, this bridge is closed due to flood damage. It can be walked across, but isn't suitable for vehicle travel. The flood waters went over the east approach, buckling the decking, eroding the approach, possibly moving the first approach span, and damaging the railing. Hopefully this will be repaired, but I suspect that it will never be open for vehicle traffic again since it's my understanding that the current Kate Shelley High Bridge will be converted to auto traffic once the new rail bridge is constructed.
The east end of the bridge (5th photo in the sequence) makes a lot of noise. The road is closed, due to construction traffic where work is being done on the Kate Shelly bridge. For a Sunday afternoon, on a closed road, there was an awful lot of traffic on this bridge!
The last photo in this sequence is of the High Level Kate Shelly Bridge. That bridge carries the double mainline of the Union Pacific across the Des Moines River and is named for a young woman who, in 1881, risked her life to save a Chicago & North Western Railway passenger express train. The perspective of the photo belies the 184' height of the Kate Shelly Bridge, which was built in 1901 and was the first bridge named for a woman. http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/ia.html
The bridge in front of the Kate Shelly bridge is a temporary bridge to allow construction equipment to cross the river.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.
This bridge, on 200th Avenue, is just upriver from the Kate Shelly High Level Bridge. It is a wood decked truss and a cheap thrill to drive across. You can hear the bridge creak when you walk on it, let alone drive on it.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ia/boone/wagon-wheel/