Dongola #1 Iron Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Pratt variant through truss bridge over South Fork Patoka River on CR 325 West
- Location
- Pike County, Indiana, and Gibson County, Indiana
- Status
- Beautifully Restored
- Future prospects
- Restored along with the steel Camelback truss to the North as part of a historic district.
- History
- Built 1884 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Co., Now part of the Patoka Historic Bridges District.
- Builder
- - Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio
- Design
- 9-panel Pratt variant (double-intersecting counters)
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 119.1 ft.
Total length: 122.0 ft.
Deck width: 13.7 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.8 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on March 25, 2005
- Also called
- Pike County Bridge #246
Gibson County Bridge #387
South Fork CR 300W Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +38.37875, -87.33976 (decimal degrees)
38°22'44" N, 87°20'23" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/470323/4247894 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Petersburg
- Average daily traffic (as of 2016)
- 15
- Inventory numbers
- INNBI 6300160 (Indiana bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
NRHP 05000198 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 16859 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of May 2018)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Very Good (8 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 36.7 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- August 16, 2020: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch
- September 28, 2019: New photos from Mike Daffron
- January 3, 2019: New photos from Carl Crasher
- October 29, 2017: New video from Mike Daffron
- January 18, 2016: Updated by Mike Daffron: Bridge Open and Restored
- August 21, 2015: New photos from Mike Daffron
- March 13, 2010: New photos from James McCray
- March 12, 2010: Updated by Robert Stephenson: Added county and Alternate names
- February 20, 2010: Updated by Anthony Dillon: adjusted GPS coordinates
- May 15, 2009: Updated by J.P.
- May 12, 2009: Updated by Anthony Dillon
- May 11, 2009: Updated by J.P.
- May 9, 2009: New photos from J.P.
Sources
- J.P. - wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Robert Stephenson - seinfeld99 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Julie Bowers - jbowerz1 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Mike Daffron - daffmikron [at] gmail [dot] com
- Melissa Brand-Welch - melissabrandwelch [at] msn [dot] com
Comments
Mike, the only one we missed was Miller. I was having phone issues. But it was a wonderful day.
Alright Melissa! Cool Pike County Bridge Trip!!
Had to go see these beauties! They are beautifully restored and not too bad of a drive from the main road! Love that these were preserved!!
There was originally a town of that name nearby.
It's only 350 Smoots from Dongola Indiana.
... and about 180 miles from Big Bone Lick, KY
It's a fact.
Where did the weird name "Dongola" come from? Anyone know?
I must say that I prefer the old name
Awesome to see this rare beauty and it's "Big Brother" to the North finally get some love.
Will be a key part of a spring visit!
A real beauty!
I love the job that was done on this and the Patoka Bridge just to the north! the road between them has been repaired and you can travel them both now. No Graffiti either!!!
Looks like rehab is moving along nicely
As of this spring there were signs posted on the south side indicating that the bridge (and possibly the other one north of it) is to be restored.
Currently closed to all but foot traffic.
That is the Upper Bluffton Bridge in Iowa that has been moved off the river and is now looking for a new home.
I guess that Julie must have posted it here for comparison purposes.
What is photo 33? It appears to be sitting in the middle of a field...
Closing this road to prevent construction traffic was suggested by the SHPO in section 5.0 of this documentation.
Also suggested was making funds available to repair both of these spans......I DO hope that comes to pass as well!
For those who want some denser reading dealing specifically with I-69:
According to the Gibson County Highway superintendant. He says that this road is closed pending construction of I-69. Here is the map of the route.
Julie, the rod you are referring to is something WIBC did with a number of its bridges from the era of the Upper Bluffton Bridge. I have also seen this detail on a bridge in London, Ontario, and built by a different company so it was not something only WIBC did.
Upper Bluffton has the diagonal going across two panels at either end and then horizontal rod going across the others through the center. Was that typical?
I've called my senators about help with the NRHP and the address locations for bridge reuse.
Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.
This one is more unique than Upper Bluffton due to it's double-intersecting counters. This "Pratt-variant" was apparently an experiment of David Hammond and WIBCo. There was another one in Indiana that is gone, but I believe there is one more of this type in Iowa.
It and another bridge up the road are part of a historic district and are rated Select in the Indiana Bridge Inventory. It should definitely be a high-priority candidate for restoration.
so similar to the Upper Bluffton. Would love to somehow cast the ornate ironwork above the signs for the Bluffton Bridge, Someone took those in the last couple of years. Do we see this stuff in antique stores or is the neighbors wanting a piece? It's not us bridgehunters, is it?
I think this bridge is closed now. The road has a cone in the middle, and since this was rated as Imminent failure, I would not be surprised if it was closed because of the flooding.
I loved these bridges when i visited them, the river was flooded. Had to walk and wade about a mile to get the bridge that is on the road about a mile down the river.
300 W... a great road, especially towards twilight on a summer evening. Two really old classic bridges completely covered with a tree canopy, There are points where its nearly pitch black.
This Bridge along with the one above it on CR300W are the bridges included in the Patoka River Bridges Historic District. Which makes me very happy.
This is a rare WIBC Pratt variant. Instead of the diagonals crossing two panels- as on a Whipple truss, on this bridge the counters cross two panels. There is another one sitting abandoned in Orange County, In. This bridge needs to be preserved.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/in/pike/6300160/
Also about a mile north of Dongola # 2 is Flat creek pony truss, which is closed. Pike co used to have a lot of nice bridges...