Rating:
3 votes

Chicken Creek Bridge

Muscatine County, Iowa
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Photos 

Photo taken by the Muscatine County Conservation Board

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Map 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Pony truss bridge over Chicken Creek on Saulsbury Road
Location
Muscatine County, Iowa
Status
Open to traffic
Future prospects
Slated for demolition and replacement.
History
Built 1928; rehabilitated 1930
Design
Warren pony truss with all verticals
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 89.9 ft.
Total length: 184.1 ft.
Deck width: 16.7 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.49638, -91.16607   (decimal degrees)
41°29'47" N, 91°09'58" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/653076/4595485 (zone/easting/northing)
Land survey
T. 77 N., R. 3 W., Sec. 2
USGS topographic map
Muscatine NW
Inventory numbers
IA 257530 (Iowa bridge number)
BH 14143 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 09/2011)
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: 6.2 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2006)
140

Categories 

Built 1928 (806)
Built during 1920s (7,033)
Doomed (805)
Iowa (3,511)
Muscatine County, Iowa (48)
One-lane traffic (7,112)
Open (28,319)
Owned by county (16,492)
 Pony truss (13,217)
Span length 75-100 feet (4,720)
Structurally deficient (16,683)
Total length 175-250 feet (2,790)
Truss (23,575)
Warren pony truss (1,987)
Warren pony truss with all verticals (139)
Warren truss (3,961)

Update Log 

  • October 30, 2012: Updated by Nathan Holth: This bridge is now doomed.
  • January 12, 2012: New photos from Luke Harden
  • June 11, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Added photograph

Sources 

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Comments 

Chicken Creek Bridge
Posted December 9, 2012, by Clark Vance (cvance [at] dogmail [dot] com)

That station is in Cloquet, MN.

Chicken Creek Bridge
Posted December 9, 2012, by Anonymous

Was the gas station in question the Frank Lloyd Wright gas station? I hope to see that one day, because it boggles my mind that a great architect designed a gas station.

Chicken Creek Bridge
Posted October 30, 2012, by Luke Harden (lmharden [at] iastate [dot] edu)

I doubt they'll listen to anyone who tries to preserve this bridge. You know what they did to the house Mark Twain lived in whilst he lived in Muscatine? Tore it down for a gas station.

You know what they did to the (now historic) gas station?

They let HNI/Hon demolish it for a parking lot.

My county really doesn't seem to give a damn about historic preservation.

Chicken Creek Bridge
Posted October 30, 2012, by julie bowers (jbowerz1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Then repair the bridge. Much more economical.

to bus traffic. no brainer...

Chicken Creek Bridge
Posted October 30, 2012, by Luke Harden (lmharden [at] iastate [dot] edu)

"The bridge needs to be repaired because of its age — it’s at least a century old — and more importantly, it’s closed to any vehicle heavier than a pickup truck or car. That’s an inconvenience for students headed to the recreation area on a field trip, who must exit their bus east of the recreation area and walk across the bridge to enjoy the park."

Seems to be another case of "give me convenience or give me death".

I'll try to go out there this weekend to take newer(& better (Weather permitting.).) pictures of this and the Saulsbury Bridge, as well as the bridges over Cone & Gedney Lakes and the old McKeown Bridge.

Chicken Creek Bridge
Posted October 30, 2012, by Nathan Holth

Another Iowa truss bridge about to be bulldozed. http://muscatinejournal.com/news/local/government-and-politics/time-takes-its-toll-on-county-bridge-decaying-span-leading/article_d3251daa-223e-11e2-a89c-001a4bcf887a.html

Why would anyone want a historic bridge in a park?!