Mill Creek Bridge
Description
This beautiful little bridge has been subjected to some horrific repairs in recent years. A brace was welded to the South portal that hides the lovely cast portal decorations unique to this company. Every cylindrical eyebar was replaced with steel rods with large clamp fittings that look terrible.Hopefully the recent restoration of the Alton Bridge will give hope to a better repair job to this bridge in the near future.
Facts
- Overview
- Pratt through truss bridge over Mill Creek on CR 220 East
- Location
- Crawford County, Indiana
- Status
- Bridge is now in storage being restored.
- Future prospects
- Being moved and preserved.
- History
- Built 1885; rehabilitated 2000; Picked For Relocation Feb 10, 2022;
- Builders
- - CLR Construction of Vincennes, Indiana (Restoration)
- Indianapolis Bridge Co. of Indianapolis, Indiana
- Design
- 7-panel, pinned Pratt through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 100.7 ft.
Total length: 104.0 ft.
Deck width: 13.1 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 12.3 ft.
- Recognition
- Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
- Also called
- Crawford County Bridge #42
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +38.13026, -86.41853 (decimal degrees)
38°07'49" N, 86°25'07" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/550961/4220427 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Beechwood
- Inventory numbers
- INNBI 1300033 (Indiana bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 15979 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- February 11, 2022: Updated by Nathan Holth: Bridge picked Feb 10, 2021, now being dismantled for restoration and relocation.
- August 19, 2021: New photos from Grant DiDomizio
- August 12, 2021: Updated by Nathan Holth: Corrected project timeline and bridge status per phone conversation with prime contractor.
- August 12, 2021: Updated by Tony Dillon: Updated status as bridge is being moved and preserved.
- February 8, 2020: New video from Mike Daffron
- November 16, 2019: New photos from Mike Daffron
- May 28, 2019: Updated by Nathan Holth: This bridge may be doomed.
- October 14, 2017: New photos from Mike Daffron
- April 15, 2010: New Street View added by J.P.
- February 20, 2010: Updated by Robert Stephenson: HAER data
- August 18, 2008: Updated by Anthony Dillon
- January 30, 2008: New photos from James McCray
Related Bridges
- Sycamore Springs Park Bridge (Parts reused in)
Sources
- James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
- HAER IN-23 - Mill Creek Bridge, Mill Creek, Alton vicinity, Crawford County, IN
- Robert Stephenson - seinfeld99 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- J.P. - wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Mike Daffron - daffmikron [at] gmail [dot] com
- Nathan Holth
- Grant DiDomizio - grantdidomizio [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
Thanks Nathan! I was given some incorrect information that the bridge had already been moved off the stream.
Bridge is in the process of being relocated to a park for reuse on a trail.
There's more than corn in Indiana
In any other state, the sign would say "modern bridge ahead replaced historic bridge 5 years ago".
Bridge still here as of November 16, 2019
Very true Dan! You guys work from plans that are of someone else's design. And if that engineering firm has little to no experience with in-kind restoration then this is to be expected. Having worked with CLR in the past I can attest that your firm does indeed do good work!
If the county does opt to replace this little span then hopefully they will follow the protocol of the "Select" status and this bridge will be safe. They would have to pay out-of-pocket to circumvent that and I doubt Crawford County has the money to do so.
In response the the comments of "redneck" repairs and such on this truss, as a contractor, we can only do the repairs that a qualified engineering firm specs out in the INDOT approved plans. Sometimes these repairs work out great and some times they do not. We (CLR Inc) have repaired two other truss bridges there in Crawford County, the other two I believe most will agree are very nice. While I agree that this particular bridge could have been repaired in a more historically correct way, it was done as the plans directed us.
I believe this bridge is about to be replaced by a new concrete bridge, and this truss will be gone from Crawford county soon.
Dehabilitation. I like that word!
At least some of the alterations are reversible. For instance, the cast iron knee braces were left in place.
Nathan,
You hit it on the spot! But one could add UCEBs as examples of redneck bridge replacements as they're just as hideous as these fix-it-up rehabs, or what Tony Dillon coined "Dehabilitation." Thanks for the link. ;-)
Nathan.......you truly must be truss psychic!!
Jason Smith and myself were just talking about the ghastly repairs on this otherwise beautiful span earlier this evening!
I was telling him that this "dehabilitation" happened several years ago. I am hopeful that with the recent and mostly "in-kind" rehabilitation of the Alton Bridge, there is hope that this ornate span can be reformed to an acceptable state!
Its a Redneck Repair! Submit it to http://thereifixedit.com/
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/in/crawford/1300033/
When I went there Wednesday it looked like they hadn’t done anything with it yet, but I’m sure that is soon to change. Based on how they have the road about to be diverted upstream with the new bridge, it is a shame they couldn’t have left it in place in its original location, although that doesn’t seem like something Crawford County is interested in.