Rating:
8 votes

Houck Iron Bridge

Putnam County, Indiana
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Photos 

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Photo taken by Tom Hall in July 2007

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Map 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over Big Walnut Creek on CR 25 East
Location
Putnam County, Indiana
Status
In storage or disassembled
Future prospects
Bridge has been relocated to Delphi in Carroll County where it will be rebuilt of the Wabash & Erie Canal.
History
Built 1913
Builder
- Lisby & Masten (Contractors)
Design
Pinned Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 160.1 ft.
Total length: 162.0 ft.
Deck width: 15.7 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 24.5 ft.
Recognition
Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude
+39.67306, -86.84333   (decimal degrees)
39°40'23" N, 86°50'36" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/513436/4391482 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Greencastle
Inventory numbers
INNBI 6700126 (Indiana bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 16909 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 03/2007)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 22.7 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2007)
225

Categories 

Built 1913 (507)
Built during 1910s (6,728)
In storage (76)
Indiana (3,348)
Lisby & Masten (1)
NR-eligible (3,749)
One-lane traffic (7,111)
Owned by county (16,482)
Pratt through truss (3,162)
 Pratt truss (5,654)
Putnam County, Indiana (75)
Span length 125-175 feet (2,950)
Structurally deficient (16,675)
Through truss (9,200)
Total length 125-175 feet (4,135)
Truss (23,559)
Wooden deck (5,397)

Update Log 

  • March 8, 2012: Updated by Tony Dillon: Updated status.
  • March 8, 2012: New photo from Jim Grey
  • March 27, 2011: Updated by Anthony Dillon: Bridge is being relocated to Delphi. IN for reuse
  • August 17, 2010: New photos from Jim Grey
  • May 10, 2010: New photos from Anthony Dillon
  • February 2, 2010: New photos from Anthony Dillon
  • April 3, 2009: New photo from Anthony Dillon
  • June 25, 2008: Updated by Anthony Dillon: common name
  • June 25, 2008: Updated by Tom Hall: Photos added, status changed

Sources 

  • Tom Hall - thomas [dot] hall [at] ffni [dot] com
  • Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
  • Jim Grey - mobilene [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
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Comments 

Houck Iron Bridge
Posted March 8, 2012, by Tony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

It is a wonderful place Jules! And with the Houck Bridge and the amazing Freedom Bridge in the works it will get even better!

I am also working with a gentleman that is designing part of the Monon Trail near Delphi...and he plans on having an historic bridge on the trail.

Houck Iron Bridge
Posted March 8, 2012, by julie bowers (jbowerz1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

the folks that volunteer here have built an incredible site and do great work. I have met and had the tour of the bridges they have restored as well as their replica canal boat, lime kiln and visitors center.

Check it out sometime.....pretty cool what people can do working together. Trying something of that sort in Iowa is difficult when the county says no volunteers...

Houck Iron Bridge
Posted March 8, 2012, by Jim Grey (mobilene [at] gmail [dot] com)

According to the Facebook page of the Wabash and Erie Canal Park in Delphi: "Last Friday, the contractor’s crew from Greencastle brought the disassembled Houck Road Iron Bridge to Canal Park. The pieces filled four semi truckloads! Our volunteer crew will now begin the process of cleaning, restoring and painting each piece. The work will go on for perhaps a year before reassembly and placement over the canal as a trail bridge."

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wabash-Erie-Canal-Park/176236532407442

Houck Iron Bridge
Posted January 19, 2012, by Steven J. Suiter (sjsuiter [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Discovered Via Geocaching.com that this bridge has been removed from the location and placed on the shore some distance away.

Houck Iron Bridge
Posted August 27, 2011, by Steven J. Suiter (sjsuiter [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Was at this bridge a little while ago, and got here via a different website. Trying my hand with geocaching and this bridge has a cache hidden near it. It took a little bit of searching for the cache.

Houck Iron Bridge
Posted June 26, 2008, by Chad Kelham (ckelham [at] ballstate [dot] bsu [dot] edu)

Thank goodness we've got a pic of this bridge up; too bad it's like who knows how many other through trusses in Putnam County - this one's closed (I don't know if it's due to structural issues or what; if someone could let me know, awesome!!) but it's a sight to behold nonetheless.