Rating:
7 votes

Aqueduct Bridge

Clay County, Indiana
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Photos 

East end

Photo taken by Robert Stephenson in March 2009

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Map 

Facts 

Overview
Abandoned Pratt through truss bridge over Birch Creek on Towpath Road
Location
Clay County, Indiana
Status
Abandoned
History
Pony truss built ca.1880 by Cleveland Bridge & Iron Co., and through built ca. 1920 by the Vincennes Bridge Co.
Builders
- Cleveland Bridge & Iron Co. of Cleveland, Ohio
- Vincennes Bridge Co. of Vincennes, Indiana
Design
Pratt through truss and Pratt pony truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 102.0 ft.
Total length: 165.0 ft.
Deck width: 16.1 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on February 7, 2000
Also called
Coffey Bridge
Clay County Bridge #182
Approximate latitude, longitude
+39.32643, -87.17951   (decimal degrees)
39°19'35" N, 87°10'46" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/484527/4353017 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Saline City
Inventory numbers
NRHP 00000209 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
INNBI 1100154 (Indiana bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 42218 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 04/1990)
Superstructure condition rating: Critical (2 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 24.2 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 1990)
100

Categories 

Abandoned (2,993)
Built during 1900s (6,226)
Clay County, Indiana (61)
Cleveland Bridge & Iron Co. (6)
Indiana (4,191)
NR-listed (2,836)
Owned by county (18,725)
Pratt through truss (4,546)
 Pratt truss (7,932)
Span length 100-125 feet (3,984)
Structurally deficient (18,309)
Through truss (12,802)
Total length 125-175 feet (5,168)
Truss (29,290)
Vincennes Bridge Co. (94)

Update Log 

  • January 14, 2017: New photos from Mike Daffron
  • July 18, 2010: Updated by Anthony Dillon: Adjusted dates of construction
  • April 5, 2009: Added by Robert Stephenson

Sources 

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Comments 

Aqueduct Bridge
Posted December 31, 2015, by Mike Daffron (daffronmike [at] yahoo [dot] com)

This beauty is in a 3 mile radius of Feederdam, Jeffers, and Courtney. I guess the only bridges that Clay County actually gives a crap about are abandoned.

Aqueduct Bridge
Posted May 25, 2012, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

In my opinion the pony truss is particularly significant because of its early 1880 construction date and association with a bridge builder that is not well represented in the remaining bridge population.

The DHPA comments for this bridge state that:

The overall pattern of the trusses of each span is fairly conventional. The full-hip design of the pony and the crafting of the verticals are noteworthy, though. The undecorated trusses of each span retain their original members.

Aqueduct Bridge
Posted May 25, 2012, by James Simmons (james [at] simmons [dot] net)

I'm curious why this is on the NRHP...What's that significant about it?

Aqueduct Bridge
Posted April 5, 2009, by Robert Stephenson (seinfeld99 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Thanks Tom, I was really surprised that it was still standing.

Tony, I think it is about 3 mile west of the Feeder Dam bridge.

Aqueduct Bridge
Posted April 5, 2009, by Anthony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Yeah I didn't know about this one either. Not a through with a pony listed in Cooper's book. The pony looks like the older of the two spans. How close is this to the Feederdam Bridge over the Eel River?

Aqueduct Bridge
Posted April 5, 2009, by Tom Hall (thomas [dot] hall [at] ffni [dot] com)

Wow Robert, Nice find! Another bridge I didn't know existed. I was within a few miles of this bridge more than once last year and went right past. I'm going to have to pay more attention.