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Lower Road Bridge

Jones County, Iowa

Photos 

North Face

Photo taken by J.R. Manning

Enlarge

BH Photo #238848

Map 

Description 

Description from Historic Bridges of Iowa website: Located northeast of Anamosa on what was known historically as the Lower Road, this two-span iron bridge spans a branch of the Wapsipinicon River. The structure is comprised of two bowstring arch-trusses, one through and one pony, supported by massive stone masornly pier and abutments. The bridge was fabricated and erected here in 1878 by the King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, using a King patented tubular arch configuration. Now abandoned by the county and used to provide access to a private farm field, the Lower Bridge remains in place in essentially unaltered condition. The bowstring arch-truss was the iron span of choice for Iowa counties in the late 1860s and 1870s. Marketed exclusively throughout the Midwest by such Ohio-based industry giants as the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, the King Iron Bridge Company and the Massillon Bridge Company, these often-patented bridge configurations featured a wide range of span lengths, economical fabrication cost and relatively quick erection. The proliferation of the bowstring corresponded with the initial development of Iowa's road system, and as a result, perhaps thousands of these prototypical iron spans were erected throughout the state. The bowstring had some rather severe structural flaws, however, relating primarily to lateral stability of the arches, and it was largely superseded by the pin-connected truss in the early 1880s. Despite this, some bowstrings were still erected in Iowa in the 1880s, although the number dwindled precipitously by the decade's end. Through subsequent attrition, almost all of Iowa's bowstrings have since been replaced and demolished. Because of its excellent state of preservation, the Lower Road Bridge is an outstanding early transportation-related resource [adapted from Hybben, Roise, and Fraser 1992]

Facts 

Overview
Bowstring through truss bridge over Buffalo Creek on Private road
Location
Anamosa, Jones County, Iowa
Status
Open to private traffic
History
Built 1878 by the King Bridge Company
Builder
- King Bridge Co. of Cleveland, Ohio
Design
Bowstring through truss
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 1998
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.11487, -91.30573   (decimal degrees)
42°06'54" N, 91°18'21" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/640064/4663919 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Anamosa
Inventory numbers
NRHP 98000536 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 50650 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,031)
Anamosa, Iowa (6)
Bowstring through truss (250)
Bowstring truss (491)
Built 1878 (78)
Built during 1870s (1,013)
Historic Bridge Weekend 2013 (145)
Iowa (6,266)
Jones County, Iowa (54)
 King Bridge Co. (337)
NR-listed (2,883)
Open (38,675)
Owned privately (1,539)
Pin-connected (3,770)
Through truss (14,317)
Truss (31,605)
Wrought Iron (384)

Update Log 

  • February 7, 2016: Updated by Art Suckewer: Added a historic image
  • October 1, 2013: Photo imported by Dave King
  • September 9, 2012: Updated by J.R. Manning: Corrected GPS Coordinates and added photos
  • December 20, 2011: Added by Frank Hicks

Sources 

  • Frank Hicks
  • J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net

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