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Rockford Bridge

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Photos 

Overview

Photo taken 1998 by Jason Smith

Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview
Two-span open-spandrel arch bridge over Shell Rock River on E. Main Avenue in Rockford
Location
Rockford, Floyd County, Iowa
Status
To be demolished either in 2012 or 2013 due to structural concerns
History
Built 1922 to replace a Pratt through truss bridge built in the 1880s. First structure was a bowstring arch bridge. Rehabilitated 1977; scheduled to be replaced in 2012/13
Design
Open-spandrel arch
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 87.9 ft.
Total length: 176.2 ft.
Deck width: 24.9 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+43.05220, -92.94347   (decimal degrees)
43°03'08" N, 92°56'36" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/504603/4766613 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Rockford
Inventory numbers
IA 10050 (Iowa bridge number)
BH 13515 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 03/2012)
Deck condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 12.8 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2001)
3,100

Categories 

Arch (9,419)
Built 1922 (464)
Built during 1920s (7,033)
Deck arch (8,700)
Doomed (801)
Floyd County, Iowa (38)
Have street view (9,889)
Iowa (3,503)
Open (28,310)
Open-spandrel arch (582)
Owned by city (3,050)
Rockford, Iowa (3)
Skewed (4,080)
Span length 75-100 feet (4,718)
Structurally deficient (16,679)
Total length 175-250 feet (2,789)

Update Log 

  • October 21, 2012: New photos from J.R. Manning
  • August 7, 2012: Updated by Jason Smith: This bridge is doomed based on info per posting
  • July 30, 2010: New Street View added by Jason Smith
  • December 19, 2005: Posted photo from Jason Smith

Sources 

  • Jason Smith - JDSmith77 [at] gmx [dot] net
  • J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net

Comments 

Rockford Bridge
Posted August 1, 2012, by Brian (rockfordb [at] sbcglobal [dot] net)

The state has given the go ahead to tear down the bridge and rebuild. Even though I knew it was going to happen it's still saddens me. There's just so much history and memory's to it. My uncle said only the older people care, and the younger ones could care less. It's not going to be easy to get to town considering that's the only convenient way. My uncle was around three and crawling on some sort of boards that the builders used to walk on. One of the men saw this and quickly grabbed him. Thank god he was spotted and rescued.

I'm very curious as to what the new one is going to look like.

Rockford Bridge
Posted September 3, 2010, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

Does the bridge have spread footings? In Michigan we are losing two of our historic concrete arch bridges because they were built with spread footings, a design that I am told is nearly impossible to repair without destroying most of the bridge. Very frustrating.

Rockford Bridge
Posted September 2, 2010, by Brian Brallier (rockfordb [at] sbcglobal [dot] net)

This is an update on the Rockford Bridge. I found out it needs to be torn down because of structural problems. Almost 90 years after it was built, it is now considered unsafe for use. My uncle who is coincidentally having his 90th birthday this week told us it can’t be saved. It has to be completely torn down. This is the man that removed the snow for us kids to ice skate. It’s very sad but time has taken its toll and unfortunately nothing can be done. It surprises me how sympathetic I have become over this bridge.

Rockford Bridge
Posted December 5, 2007, by Brian (rockfordb [at] sbcglobal [dot] net)

Seeing this bridge brings back a lot of memories, for as a child I walked it every day and my uncle had a mill / dam and I would go there to fish or skip rocks. During the winter all the kids would ice skate. My uncle would take his tractor and plow the snow off by the bridge so the kids could skate all threw the wintertime. Keeping the snow off in “Iowa” was know easy job. Before this it was my parents turn. Swimming, fishing, and for the brave, jumping off. This is what it looks like now.

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