Rating:
14747
{90}%
3 votes
Trout Run Trail - Kingpost Bridge
Photos
Overview in new location
Photo taken by James Baughn in June 2017
Enlarge
BH Photo #411095
Description
This short-span crossing of Ten Mile Creek is located some five miles northwest of Decorah in central Winneshiek County. County records do not refer specifically to this kingpost pony truss, but it appears to have been built circa 1895, probably by the R.D. Wheaton Bridge Company of Chicago, which supplied several kingpost trusses to the county at that time. Consisting of a kingpost pony truss with rigid-connected upper chords and pinned lowers, the structure is supported by stone abutments. Since its completion, the Ten Mile Creek Bridge has continued to carry intermittent traffic in its picturesque setting, while retaining an exceptional degree of structural integrity.
With its roots extending to the Middle Ages, the kingpost pony truss was the most rudimentary truss type. Numerous kingposts were built on Iowa's early roads in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, executed first as timber/iron combination structures and later in all-metal configurations. The Kingpost as a structural type was generally limited to relatively short-span applications, however, and as steel beam bridges received widespread acceptance after the turn of the century, erection of kingpost trusses declined rapidly. This bridge in Winneshiek County is a well-preserved example of this mainstay structural type [adapted from Crow-Dolby and Fraser 1992].
Facts
- Overview
- Kingpost pony truss bridge relocated to Trout Run Trail in Decorah
- Location
- Decorah, Winneshiek County, Iowa
- Status
- Open to pedestrians for trail use
- History
- Built ca. 1895
- Builder
- - R.D. Wheaton & Co. of Chicago, Illinois
- Design
- Kingpost pony truss (lower chord pin-connected, upper chord riveted)
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 35.0 ft.
Total length: 36.0 ft.
Deck width: 16.1 ft.
- Recognition
-
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 1998
- Also called
- Ten Mile Creek Bridge (Old Name)
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +43.27422, -91.79341 (decimal degrees)
43°16'27" N, 91°47'36" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
- Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/597908/4791974 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Decorah
- Land survey
- T. 98 N., R. 9 W., Sec. 3
- Average daily traffic (as of 2001)
- 30
- Inventory numbers
- NRHP 98000466 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
IA 347800 (Iowa bridge number)
BH 14747 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
- Inspection report (as of March 2009)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Critical (2 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 24.4 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- November 18, 2017: Added photos from James Baughn
- July 22, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Fixed map
- November 26, 2010: Updated by Anthony Dillon: Updated status to relocated for reuse
- February 4, 2008: New photos from Jason Smith
Sources
- Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Luke
- Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
- James Baughn - webmaster [at] bridgehunter [dot] com
We need post editing function! lol
Gotta get out on that trail myself one of these days!