Rating:
8 votes

La Harpe Creek Bridge

Hancock County, Illinois

Photos 

Photo taken by Steve Conro in September 2012

Enlarge

BH Photo #239194

Map 

Description 

Its obviously been restored but you can see the trusses are twisted as you approach the bridge. Flood waters must have been amazing. Bridge is quite high above the water.

On September 27, 2012, the bridge was destroyed when an overweight concrete truck tried to drive over it. The bridge collapsed due to the weight of the concrete truck.

Facts 

Overview
Lost pony truss bridge over La Harpe Creek on E CR1950, 2.5 mi. west of Fountain Green
Location
Hancock County, Illinois
Status
Collapsed by an overweight truck.
History
Built 1901; Collapsed September 27, 2012
Design
Pinned Pratt pony truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 64.0 ft.
Total length: 64.9 ft.
Deck width: 12.1 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.48028, -91.02056   (decimal degrees)
40°28'49" N, 91°01'14" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/667780/4482947 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Carthage East
Average daily traffic (as of 2008)
25
Inventory numbers
IL 034-4218 (Illinois bridge number)
BH 15273 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of May 2016)
Sufficiency rating: 16.8 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

4-panel truss (258)
Built 1901 (495)
Built during 1900s (6,500)
Collapsed (201)
Hancock County, Illinois (51)
Illinois (3,996)
Lost (19,926)
Lost 2012 (310)
Lost during 2010s (2,310)
One-lane traffic (7,513)
 Owned by township (2,369)
Pin-connected (3,554)
Pony truss (15,230)
Pratt pony truss (3,238)
Pratt truss (8,206)
Span length 50-75 feet (9,214)
Structurally deficient (17,862)
Total length 50-75 feet (8,667)
Truss (29,970)
Wooden deck (5,897)

Update Log 

  • October 12, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Bridge is lost
  • September 11, 2012: Updated by Steve Conro: Change status and added photos
  • April 17, 2012: Updated by Tony Dillon: Updated status

Sources 

  • Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
  • Steve Conro - sconro [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • rob wagner - robwagner2002 [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Luke
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Comments 

La Harpe Creek Bridge
Posted January 27, 2013, by sara (r [dot] trudo [at] comcast [dot] net)

Here's hoping some fat cat cement company exec wrote a ck to the township for a replacement bridge and road upgrade.

La Harpe Creek Bridge
Posted October 13, 2012, by Steve Conro (sconro [at] yahoo [dot] com)

You'd have to be an idiot to have even tried it. I crossed it 3 weeks before when I took photo's in an S10 pickup truck thought twice before doing it.

1901 - Truss-Thru Bridge
Posted October 12, 2012, by K. A. Erickson

Well there was a weight limit posted as pictured on the other entry here >.>

http://bridgehunter.com/il/hancock/34421808075/

La Harpe Creek Bridge
Posted October 6, 2010, by Dale Travis (daletravis [at] bigfoot [dot] com)

Photos 9-13-10. Bridge is closed and so is the road approach from the east. The road from the N. isn't very good.