Rating:
2 votes

Swinney Park Footbridge

Allen County, Indiana

Photos 

Approach to West end of bridge.

Photo taken by Anthony Dillon in August 2008

Enlarge

BH Photo #120111

Map 

Street View 

Description 

A rare example of a "scaled-down" truss bridge built for pedestrian use.

"The Pictorial History of Ft. Wayne" gives the build date of 1897 (pg 537) and says the bridge was built to connect Swinney Park with the Nebraska neighborhood.

Facts 

Overview
Pratt through truss bridge over St Mary's River on Park trail in Fort Wayne
Location
Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana
Status
Currently closed to pedestrians due to safety concerns. Funding being sought
History
Built in 1897 by the King Bridge Co. as a pedestrian bridge.
Builder
- King Bridge Co. of Cleveland, Ohio
Design
Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Total length: 180.0 ft.
Deck width: 8.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.07755, -85.15990   (decimal degrees)
41°04'39" N, 85°09'36" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/654577/4548997 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Fort Wayne West
Inventory number
BH 37076 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (9,022)
Allen County, Indiana (111)
Built 1897 (296)
Built during 1890s (3,278)
Closed (2,764)
Footbridge (436)
Fort Wayne, Indiana (54)
Have street view (29,854)
Indiana (5,147)
 King Bridge Co. (450)
Owned by city (6,162)
Pin-connected (5,033)
Pratt through truss (6,227)
Pratt truss (10,533)
Through truss (17,799)
Total length 175-250 feet (4,589)
Truss (36,694)

Update Log 

  • May 28, 2017: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added category "Pin-connected"
  • October 9, 2013: New Street View added by J.P.
  • February 14, 2010: Updated by Anthony Dillon: Added GPS coordinates
  • February 13, 2010: New photos from Anthony Dillon
  • August 5, 2008: New photos from Anthony Dillon
  • August 4, 2008: Added by Anthony Dillon

Sources 

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Comments 

Swinney Park Footbridge
Posted October 31, 2020, by Tony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Just got word that Ft. Wayne Parks & Rec has this highly significant span on the books for design phase of rehab in 2021. They hope to bid for construction in 2022.

Swinney Park Footbridge
Posted April 26, 2018, by C Murray (colmurray [at] frontier [dot] com)

This bridge is currently closed.

Swinney Park Footbridge
Posted September 22, 2009, by Todd aka. "bridgebuilder" (mrwalk08 [at] aol [dot] com)

This would be a neat treat on a healthy autumn walk. I live in Defiance, Oh which is an hour and a half from Ft Wayne. I just might make a drive west to check out this gem.

Swinney Park Footbridge
Posted September 22, 2009, by Anthony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Here is another unique example of a pedestrian bridge. Built by the King Bridge Co. in 1898, this is a long pin-connected Pratt through truss. You can touch the top of the portal bracing on this scaled-down span.