Needham Ford Bridge
Description
This was originally part of the Sugar Creek Turnpike and also the Franklin & Shelbyville Turnpike. It would later become the early alignment of State Road 44, and after that road was rebuilt to the South it became a county road.Thanks to Jim Cooper for additional information.
Facts
- Overview
- Lost Bowstring through truss bridge over Sugar Creek on County Road 150 North (Old SR 44)
- Location
- Johnson County, Indiana
- Status
- Removed but not replaced
- History
- Built 1870; Abandoned 1974; Removed 1982.
- Builders
- - Ohio Bridge Co. of Cleveland
- William Rezner
- Design
- 14-panel Bowstring through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 154.0 ft.
Total length: 157.0 ft.
Deck width: 15.5 ft.
- Also called
- Clark's Mill Bridge
Old County Bridge #37 - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.50216, -85.96561 (decimal degrees)
39°30'08" N, 85°57'56" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/588933/4373015 (zone/easting/northing)
- Inventory number
- BH 86748 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- April 21, 2020: New photos from Tony Dillon
- April 11, 2020: Updated by Tony Dillon: Added historic name and other information.
- September 24, 2019: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch
- September 24, 2019: Added by Tony Dillon
Sources
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Melissa Brand-Welch - melissabrandwelch [at] msn [dot] com
Comments
Just a note: The design is Rezner, but my gut says its made by Wrought Iron Bridge Co. after they acquired Rezner's firm. The overhead bracing suggests WIBCo. to me.
Regards,
Art S.
Tom, you're very welcome. I enjoyed finding the article. Tony was gracious enough to map it.
Melissa, Thanks for the photo and info on this bridge. Back before Bridgehunter, I would look at my CJ Puetz Indiana County Maps for road bridges crossing certain streams. Then I'd go see whether I'd find a historic bridge or UCEB. About 20 years ago, I went this location and found the road closed. Then an older gentleman wondered what I was doing. He said the bridge was gone and it was an iron bridge. Wow, a good sized bowstring once existed there.
Thank you for your assistance!
2 Rezner Bowstrings in one day! Very impressive Melissa!!
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/in/johnson/bh86748/
While that is certainly a possibility Art, I have seen fabricators vary their strut designs with such frequency that I rarely use them for identification purposes. I felt it best to just pay homage to the original firm here.