Rating:
3 votes

Saulsbury Bridge

Muscatine County, Iowa

Photos 

Side Shot (Upstream)

Photo taken by Luke in August 2013

View this photo at 500px.com

BH Photo #337628

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Pinned Pratt through truss over Cedar River on Saulsbury Bridge Recreation Area Fishing Pier
Location
Muscatine County, Iowa
Status
Open to pedestrians
Future prospects
Remaining spans were converted into a fishing pier.
History
Built 1881; Closed to vehicular traffic 1967; Converted to pedestrian use 1976; Partially lost in accidental fire March 26, 1977
Builders
- James B. Locke of Binghampton, New York (Substructure)
- King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Co. of Cleveland, Ohio (Superstructure) [also known as King Bridge Co.]
Design
Pinned Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 160.0 ft.
Total length: 640.0 ft.
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)
Quadrangle map:
Muscatine NW
Inventory number
BH 48891 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,631)
A-frame portal (423)
Built 1881 (140)
Built during 1880s (2,011)
Cedar River (Minnesota-Iowa) (124)
Historic Bridge Weekend 2013 (145)
Iowa (6,530)
James B. Locke (8)
King Bridge Co. (368)
King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Co. (31)
Lally columns (312)
Muscatine County, Iowa (177)
Open to pedestrians (4,253)
Owned by state (16,055)
 Park (271)
Pin-connected (3,925)
Pratt through truss (5,431)
Pratt truss (9,352)
Preserved (1,195)
River-To-River Road (21)
Road-to-trail (106)
Span length 125-175 feet (4,236)
Through truss (15,198)
Total length 500-1000 feet (2,878)
Town lattice portal bracing (17)
Truss (32,984)
Wooden deck (6,074)

Update Log 

  • March 14, 2020: New photo from Luke
  • July 2, 2019: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch
  • July 2, 2019: Updated by Luke: Added conversion date & substructure contractor from Newspapers.com articles
  • September 12, 2015: Updated by Luke: Added builder (King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Co.)
  • August 20, 2014: Updated by Luke: Added category "River To River Road"
  • July 20, 2013: New photos from Luke Harden
  • 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 

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Comments 

Saulsbury Bridge
Posted July 2, 2019, by Luke

Another photo for you Melissa, and a gore one too:

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/542726389/

Saulsbury Bridge
Posted July 2, 2019, by Luke

For Melissa to merge:

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/543026284/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/542234301/

Saulsbury Bridge
Posted August 18, 2015, by Luke

According to the "Heubringer's Map & Guide for the River-to-River Road", it carried the Muscatine Branch of the River-to-River Road that went from Davenport to West Liberty via Muscatine: https://archive.org/stream/huebingersmapgui00hueb/huebingers...

Saulsbury Bridge
Posted August 18, 2015, by Dave Darby (dwdarby [at] aol [dot] com)

This bridge never carried the River to River Road. The River to River Road crossed the Cedar at Moscow.

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 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....