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Matthiessen Park Footbridge

La Salle County, Illinois
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Photos 

Photo taken by Just B Cuz, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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Map 

Description 

Rare example of a concrete ribbed bridge designed by J.B. Strauss who also designed the Golden Gate bridge.

Facts 

Overview
Ribbed closed-spandrel arch bridge over Deer Creek Gorge on Pedestrian Walkway
Location
La Salle County, Illinois
Status
Open to pedestrians
History
Built 1905
Builder
- Strauss Bascule Bridge Co. of Chicago, Illinois
Design
Strauss Ribbed Concrete Arch, (Closed Spandrel Ribbed Deck Arch)
Also called
Deer Creek Gorge Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.29390, -89.02841   (decimal degrees)
41°17'38" N, 89°01'42" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/330162/4573367 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
La Salle
Inventory number
BH 48966 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Arch (9,420)
Built 1905 (550)
Built during 1900s (4,247)
Closed-spandrel arch (2,762)
Concrete balustrade (426)
Deck arch (8,703)
 Illinois (2,500)
La Salle County, Illinois (50)
Open to Pedestrians (2,084)
Owned by state (9,811)
Ribbed closed-spandrel arch (21)
Strauss Bascule Bridge Co. (26)

Update Log 

  • January 14, 2013: New photo from Gene Smania
  • April 12, 2012: Updated by Steve Conro: Added category "Concrete balustrade"
  • December 14, 2011: New photos from Steve Conro
  • June 21, 2011: Added by Nathan Holth

Related Bridges 

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Comments 

Matthiessen Park Footbridge
Posted June 21, 2011, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

This bridge appears to be the bridge discussed in "Engineering News" 1905 as listed here: http://books.google.com/books?id=X1E0AAAAMAAJ&dq=Strauss%20Ribbed%20Concrete%20Steel%20Bridge&pg=PA109#v=onepage&q=Strauss%20Ribbed%20Concrete%20Steel%20Bridge&f=false

Assuming the railing panel balustrades have been replaced with something disrespectful to the original design, it also appears to be the bridge pictured here, http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/nbrail/ad_large.jpg which lists the bridge as the first ever Strauss ribbed arch bridge.

If so, the bridge is a rare example of a concrete bridge designed by Strauss, and being the first, is made even more significant.