The Steel Bridge
Photos
Soap Creek Bridge
Photo taken by Chris Gonnerman in November 2012
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)
BH Photo #243562
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Soap Creek on Hill Boulevard
- Location
- Davis County, Iowa
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1905
- Design
- 6 panel pin-connected Pratt through truss with A-frame portal bracing
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 137.1 ft.
Total length: 231.0 ft.
Deck width: 18.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 13.0 ft.
- Also called
- Soap Creek Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.85576, -92.51137 (decimal degrees)
40°51'21" N, 92°30'41" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/541184/4522860 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Paris
- Land survey
- T. 70 N., R. 14 W., Sec. 19
- Average daily traffic (as of 2018)
- 70
- Inventory numbers
- IA 135670 (Iowa bridge number)
BH 13326 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of May 2018)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 35.7 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- February 21, 2014: New photo from Jack Schmidt
- March 14, 2013: Updated by Dylan VanAntwerp: Edited name
- March 6, 2013: New photos from Dylan VanAntwerp
- November 23, 2012: Updated by Chris Gonnerman: Added detail to bridge description.
Sources
- Chris Gonnerman
- Dylan VanAntwerp - dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com
- Jack Schmidt - jjturtle [at] earthlink [dot] net
Comments
Another possibility is that it may have died on a local farm from natural causes. Then, some teenagers may have thought it would be fun to place the carcass on the bridge.
A more sinister thought is there may have been a satanic or other offbeat religious ceremony here.
Perhaps it was a U of Iowa fan and threw itself off the bridge in a fit of March madness. 8^P
Go Cyclones!
I figured it probably ended up there during a flood...hmmmm
Poor creature probably fell off of a passing truck. Heck of a way to die.
Looks like a converted Rail bridge based on the portal design...however, the dimensions would say otherwise.
The dead sheep hanging from the lower chord eyebars is rather interesting!
It might sound kind of silly, but I grew up in the area and the steel bridge is all I've ever heard it called.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ia/davis/135670/
You've reminded me of that scene from The 'Burbs.
"I want to kill everyone ... Satan is good ... Satan is our pal."
But that is a possibility. If that red stain on the bridge portal is indeed blood as well as what's seen underside.