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Albright Bridge

Hamilton County, Iowa
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Photo taken by Jason Smith

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Description 

This long-span steel truss carries an unpaved county road across the Boone River in Independence Township, south of Webster City. The structure consists of a single pinned Pratt through truss supported by steel cylinder piers, with steel stringer approach spans on both ends. The history of the Albright Bridge dates to April 1907, when the Hamilton County Board of Supervisors contracted with Webster City contractor A.H. Austin to supply and build the steel truss. Austin worked on the construction throughout the remainder of the year; by early January 1908 the Albright Bridge had been completed. It has since carried vehicular traffic in essentially unaltered condition. Roughly 175 pinned Pratt through trusses were identified during Clayton Fraser's state historic bridge inventory in the early 1990s. These ranged in span length form 64 feet to 180 feet (the average is about 110 feet), and in fabrication date between 1874 and 1937 (with the average about 1902). With a span length of 156 feet, the Albright Bridges is distinguished as one of the longest pinned Pratt trusses remaining in Iowa. It is thus an important example of this mainstay structural type [adapted from Fraser 1990].

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Pratt through truss bridge over Boone River on Inkpaduta Avenue
Location
Hamilton County, Iowa
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1907
Builder
- A.H. Austin of Webster City, Iowa
Design
Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 156.2 ft.
Total length: 207.0 ft.
Deck width: 15.7 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 15.9 ft.
Recognition
Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.40556, -93.80961   (decimal degrees)
42°24'20" N, 93°48'35" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/433377/4695123 (zone/easting/northing)
Land survey
T. 88 N., R. 25 W., Sec. 30
USGS topographic map
Webster City
Inventory numbers
IA 171910 (Iowa bridge number)
BH 13562 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 09/2011)
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: 20.0 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2011)
40

Categories 

8-panel truss (238)
A.H. Austin (5)
Boone River (14)
Built 1907 (375)
Built during 1900s (4,247)
Hamilton County, Iowa (27)
Iowa (3,506)
NR-eligible (3,748)
One-lane traffic (7,112)
Open (28,314)
 Owned by county (16,489)
Pin-connected (1,521)
Pratt through truss (3,166)
Pratt truss (5,660)
Span length 125-175 feet (2,954)
Structurally deficient (16,680)
Through truss (9,210)
Total length 175-250 feet (2,789)
Truss (23,574)
Wooden deck (5,398)

Update Log 

  • December 3, 2011: Updated by Frank Hicks: Updated design per description
  • September 7, 2011: New photos from Jason Smith
  • July 26, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Added description and changed name

Sources 

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