Hibbs Bridge
Description
Bridge is located on a trail between Edgewater & Athletic Parks. The bridge had names of 'Coal Creek' and 'Hibbs' at its original location in Fountain County. Although Goggle Maps calls it 'Blue Bridge', a news article gives it an official name of 'John F. Kennedy Bridge of Character' or just 'Kennedy'. (follow link below)Essay
Written by Anthony DillonThe Attica Bridge Company was in a transitional state when they built the Hibbs Bridge. Field riveting was still a tricky procedure, especially on large spans. ABC would continue to pin-connect their conventional Pratt through trusses throughout the firms Indiana years. With their Parker trusses, it is uncertain if they ever built any that were pinned. After erecting this span in 1903, the following year they would manufacture an entirely riveted bridge in Cass County. The bridge over Deer Creek was, until it's removal, the oldest riveted Parker truss in Indiana. In 1905 they would follow that with a 2-span Parker truss at Bull Rapids in Allen County.
As an interesting footnote, a few bolted Warren through trusses also remain. Pinned Warrens were rare, due to extreme pin wear in the center panels of the span. It was gusset plates that breathed life back into this type of truss. Gusset plates could either be bolted or riveted to truss members. A few examples of bolted, ABC Warren throughs remain in Fountain County, Indiana.
Attica Bridge Company was undoubtedly the trailblazer of Hoosier firms, when it came to bolting and consequently riveting trusses together.
Facts
- Overview
- Parker through truss bridge over West Fork White River on Trail in Anderson
- Location
- Anderson, Madison County, Indiana
- Status
- Reopened after levee construction completed.
- History
- Built in Fountain County in 1903 by the Attica Bridge Company, moved to Madison County in 2008.
- Builder
- - Attica Bridge Co. of Attica, Indiana
- Design
- Bolted, 8-panel Parker through truss.
- Dimensions
-
Span length: 150.0 ft.
Total length: 150.0 ft.
- Also called
- Blue Bridge
Kennedy Bridge
Coal Creek Bridge - old - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.10677, -85.67282 (decimal degrees)
40°06'24" N, 85°40'22" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/613113/4440452 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Anderson South
- Inventory number
- BH 41309 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- December 25, 2017: New video from Mike Daffron
- March 11, 2017: New photos from Mike Daffron
- November 22, 2016: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added categories "Riveted", "Preserved"
- May 2, 2015: New photo from Jim Allen
- April 30, 2015: Updated by Jim Allen: added naming info in description
- April 28, 2015: Updated by Jim Allen: updated status
- January 2, 2015: Updated by Jim Allen: Expanded description
- July 7, 2014: New Street View added by Ralph Demars
- November 27, 2013: New Street View added by Brent Tindall
- October 22, 2010: Essay added by Anthony Dillon
- May 21, 2010: New photos from Anthony Dillon
- February 28, 2010: Updated by Anthony Dillon: Added new information
- January 23, 2010: New photos from Anthony Dillon
- October 25, 2009: Updated by Joshua Collins: added gps coordinates
- April 12, 2009: New photos from Anthony Dillon
- March 15, 2009: Added by Anthony Dillon
Related Bridges
- Hibbs Bridge (Same project) - To old location.
Sources
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Joshua Collins - Bigjc1979 [at] aol [dot] com
- Brent Tindall - bizzat219 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Jim Allen
- The Herald Bulletin - Newspaper article on naming the bridge
- Mike Daffron - daffmikron [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
Pictures 24 and 25 are of BH 44511, the remains of the old 10th Street Bridge.
Yes, If you are going to paint on bridge abutments, make it presentable. Tony's words are agreeable with me. Murals draw the eye, and are welcome. Most show historic scenes. Beats the scurges that graffiti brings.
I was in Anderson March 21, 2010 and had the opportunity to visit the Hibbs Bridge. It certainly is a good restoration. Appears to be quite popular as there were a lot of visitors at the time I was there.
Yes....they did a great job on it Jason.
Now if they can just get the graffiti punks to leave it alone!
WOW! I never thought a bridge could be as attractive at night as it is in the day time. Madison Co. did a lot of work to make this unique structure attractive. I wish other counties and states (like PA) would follow this example and take better care of their truss bridges and not treat them like a liability.
I noticed that one of the photos notes "lots of bolts." This bridge (Formerly Fountain #7) was originally brought to the site in panels and field-spliced together with bolts. By my research, this is the last remaining bolted Parker in use in Indiana.
Wow! Those night photos are spectacular! This will be another bridge to add to the 'Visit' list.
I had the chance to photograph the Hibbs Bridge last night under the lights. I applaud the city of Anderson for not only saving this beauty from the dumpster, but also turning it into a real work of art. You can see more night shots on the Hibbs Bridge page.
Added this newly restored transplant from Fountain County. It's a real shame that Fountain County wants to get rid of their bridges, but at least they are going to good homes.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/in/madison/hibbs/
Anderson's The Herald Bulletin newspaper on July 9, 2014 reported that the levee along White River would be reworked. Since one end of the bridge sits on the levee it was closed. The bridge was reopened by April 2015.