Turkey River Bridge
Description
Among the Winneshiek County bridges included in Iowa's historic bridge inventory is this 12-panel bowstring through arch. The structure crosses Turkey River south of Festina in southern Winneshiek County. The wrought iron arch dates to 1873. In the spring of that year Washington Township citizens presented the county bridge commissioner with a request for a permanent bridge over the Turkey River. The commissioner, after reviewing the petition, agreed that there was a justifiable need for a crossing at this location, but decided to delay action owing to the county schedule, already replete with new bridge construction. Soon thereafter the bridge over the Turkey River was evidently approved by county officials and let out to bid. The structure was fabricated and erected by the Ohio-based Wrought Iron Bridge Company, often contracted by Winneshiek County, for an undisclosed amount of money. The truss's bridge plate reveals that the firm completed the bridge the same year. Excluding a deck replacement in 1978, the Turkey River Bridge continues to carry local traffic in virtually unchanged condition. In its extensive dealings with the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, Winneshiek County was simply following a regional trend. As this county and hundreds of others in the Midwest contracted with the Ohio-based bridge company in the 1870s, Wrought Iron quickly became one of the largest fabricators in America. In addition, its president, David Hammond, distinguished himself as one of the country's most prolific bridge innovators. Documentation shows that the primary superstructural type marketed by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company in the 1870s was the bowstring arch-truss made up of wrought and cast iron components. The bowstring was the most commonly erected all-metal bridge of the 1870s, owing in large part to Wrought Iron and its main competitor, the King Bridge and Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The first and second manufacturers in the country during the decade, both companies fabricated standardized versions of their own patented bowstring design. The Turkey River Bridge is thus both technologically significant because it is an early example of a once prevalent bridge design, the bowstring arch-truss, and it is historically notable since it was erected by one of the most prolific bridge builders in the Midwest during this decade, the Wrought Iron Bridge Company [adapted from Crow-Dolby and Fraser 1992].This nationally significant historic bridge was considered the third longest bowstring truss span in the United States.
Facts
- Overview
- Bowstring through truss bridge over Turkey River on Little Church Road
- Location
- Winneshiek County, Iowa
- Status
- Demolished and replaced with a slab of concrete.
- Future prospects
- Bridge has been demolished and replaced. The county ran out of money and the estimate to relocate and preserve as a non-functional exhibit was higher than expected.
- History
- Built 1873 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Co. Demolished and replaced in 2010.
- Builder
- - Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio
- Design
- Bowstring through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 159.1 ft.
Total length: 177.2 ft.
Deck width: 16.1 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 15.7 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 1998
- Also called
- Little Church Road Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +43.08512, -91.89393 (decimal degrees)
43°05'06" N, 91°53'38" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/590030/4770860 (zone/easting/northing)
- Land survey
- T. 96 N., R. 9 W., Sec. 34
- USGS topographic map
- Saint Lucas
- Inventory numbers
- IA 346440 (Iowa bridge number)
NRHP 98000468 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 14750 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection (as of 04/2007)
- Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 19.3 (out of 100) - Average daily traffic (as of 2001)
- 40
Update Log
- July 22, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Added description
- August 24, 2010: Updated by Nathan Holth: This bridge has been demolished and replaced.
- June 24, 2009: Updated by Jason Smith
- February 6, 2008: New photos from Jason Smith
Sources
- Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Jason Smith - JDSmith77 [at] gmx [dot] net
- Nathan Holth
- Luke Harden - lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
Comments
Another classic American landmark, right down the............
This is a surprising development. I knew the bridge had been replaced, but I was under the impression that the old bridge was in storage.
Sorry folks. You thought a nationally significant 1870s iron bowstring thru truss was going to be preserved? You thought wrong. This is America.
Next time, cover the bridge up with plywood and tell 'em its a covered bridge and watch the federal preservation funds pour in for the bridge.
Without a wooden covering, this nationally significant historic bridge only had access to the normal "more funding for expensive replacement bridges than inexpensive rehab projects" that our broken federal and state transportation funding aid system provides and perpetrates. With very little in-house funds, the county could not afford to preserve the bridge.
Glad to hear that there are plans to preserve this bridge albeit in a different location. I figured that this bridge could be used on one of the pedestrian and bike trails in Decorah.
Sorry, the pics did not upload in the format I wanted. I will try to post them as TIFFs or JPEGs from a different computer later. If you have Photoshop 7.0 you should be able to view the current pics.
Located southwest of Festina, this is of at least four bowstring trusses remaining in Winnesheik County, Iowa.
View attachment #1 (Adobe Photoshop Image, 1789923 bytes)
View attachment #2 (Adobe Photoshop Image, 1629711 bytes)
View attachment #3 (Adobe Photoshop Image, 159150 bytes)
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