Rating:
3 votes

Saulsbury Bridge

Muscatine County, Iowa
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Photo 

Photo provided by the Muscatine County Conservation Board

Map 

Description 

Built in 1881, was closed to vehicular traffic in 1967. In 1977 4 of the original 6 spans were severely damaged by fire and removed. The Remaining 2 spans were used in Saulsbury Bridge recreation area as a fishing pier.

Facts 

Overview
Pratt through truss bridge over the Cedar River now used for pedestrian access.
Location
Muscatine County, Iowa
Status
Open to pedestrians
Future prospects
Part of remaining bridge was converted into a fishing pier.
History
Built 1881, Closed to vehicular traffic 1967, Partially lost in accidental fire March 26 1977.
Design
Pinned Pratt through truss
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.49999, -91.17449   (decimal degrees)
41°29'60" N, 91°10'28" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/652365/4595871 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Atalissa
Inventory number
BH 48891 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (3,822)
A-frame portal (232)
Built 1881 (57)
Built during 1880s (1,045)
Cedar River (Minnesota-Iowa) (80)
Iowa (3,511)
Lally columns (90)
Muscatine County, Iowa (48)
 Open to Pedestrians (2,084)
Owned by state (9,811)
Pratt through truss (3,166)
Pratt truss (5,660)
Preserved (652)
Through truss (9,211)
Town lattice portal bracing (10)
Truss (23,575)

Update Log 

  • October 30, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Lally columns", "A-frame portal"
  • January 12, 2012: New photo from Luke Harden
  • September 1, 2011: New photo from Luke Harden
  • June 11, 2011: Added by Luke Harden

Sources 

  • Luke Harden - lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com
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Comments 

Saulsbury Bridge
Posted January 13, 2012, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Looks like a Pratt to me. The Pratt design does not require counters on any specific number of panels.

Saulsbury Bridge
Posted January 13, 2012, by Luke Harden (lmharden [at] iastate [dot] edu)

At this time I do not know who made the bridge, I emailed the conservation board again with a thank you and an inquiry about the builder for this bridge and the Gedney Lake bridge.

Saulsbury Bridge
Posted January 13, 2012, by Julie Bowers (jbowerz1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

cool bridge, great stone piers. I would say a Pratt and I could be like 33% wrong or right. Who built it? Muscatine was the first real river town I did as a kid with a houseboat that looked like a trailer. The Mighty Mississippi....

Saulsbury Bridge
Posted January 12, 2012, by Luke Harden (lmharden [at] iastate [dot] edu)

So what type of truss is this?