Old Rockville Road Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Whipple through truss bridge over White Lick Creek on a pedestrian trail (former Broyles Road) in Avon
- Location
- Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
- Status
- Open to pedestrians
- History
- Built 1875 by the Columbia Bridge Works
- Builder
- - Columbia Bridge Works of Dayton, Ohio
- Design
- Whipple through truss
- Recognition
- Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
- Also called
- Old Route 36 Bridge
Avon Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.76016, -86.41690 (decimal degrees)
39°45'37" N, 86°25'01" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/549946/4401300 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Brownsburg
- Inventory number
- BH 36735 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- December 25, 2017: New video from Mike Daffron
- December 3, 2017: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added category "Pin-connected"
- December 2, 2017: New photos from Mike Daffron
- January 24, 2013: New photos from Brent Tindall
- March 4, 2012: Updated by Brent Tindall: Fix typo, added "original US 36" to "Carries" section.
- March 3, 2012: Updated by Brent Tindall: Adjusted GPS coordinates.
- January 23, 2011: New photos from Brent Tindall
- May 10, 2010: New photos from Anthony Dillon
- September 9, 2009: Updated by Jim Grey: Added GPS coordinates.
- April 11, 2009: New photo from Anthony Dillon
- July 26, 2008: New photos from Anthony Dillon
- June 24, 2008: Added by Anthony Dillon
Sources
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Jim Grey - mobilene [at] gmail [dot] com
- Brent Tindall - bizzat219 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
- Mike Daffron - daffmikron [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
I am sorry but that is just stupid. Not because the railings block the view of the bottom chord connections which exhibit extraordinary details (which they do). But, why bother putting railings on a bridge that you don't care about restoring? People won't fall off the bridge, but does that matter if the whole bridge collapses? And if the decision is made to restore the bridge properly such that the bridge is dismantled and restored in shop, these railings are just one more thing the contractor has to remove. Supplemental railings should have been included as part of a full restoration contract... more costly, but at the same time less redundant costs = better value to taxpayers.
My photo here shows both complex bottom chord connection and what appears to be significant deterioration... although it was late in the day and I didn't have time for a detailed assessment.
http://historicbridges.org/indiana/avonbridge/avonbridge5457...
Found this snapshot on Flickr and recognized the bridge:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmonin87/19465271812/
The new railing is really not appropriate for the bridge.
Regards,
Art S.
There was supposed to be a complete rehab of this bridge in the works. I know that Barker submitted a proposal several years back that included complete replication of all the decorative cast portal elements. With the loss of the Howard Bridge in Ohio a couple years ago this is likely the oldest remaining Columbia Bridge Works span. I would assume that budget restraints have hurt these plans.
As for the MOB...that is indeed very short-sighted on their part. Like Michigan, Indiana has numerous pony trusses available that would fit the bill here perfectly.
A contract has been let to add a modern railing to this bridge. The original railing will be left in place. Also, the contract includes the construction of a 50 foot M.O.B. on the trailway that this bridge serves. It is unclear why a historic bridge is not being used for this purpose, however I am extremely disappointed. We have several abandoned historic bridges in Michigan that are around 50 foot in length that could have been used.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/in/hendricks/bh36735/
Found some more pictures:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/washington-township-park-avon