Franklin Street Bridge (1894)

Photos

Historic photo

BH Photo #434852

Map

Map Links

Description

The commissioners received a formal offer from the Evansville Street Railway Company to assist with the replacement of the Franklin Street covered bridge. The board rejected the offer as inadequate in October 1892. The following June, the board paid C. C. Genung $215 for the plans and specifications for both a new Franklin Street substructure and superstructure. Fourteen metal fabricators bid in the July letting, with the Massachusetts Bridge Company bringing in the lowest and winning proposal at $29,699. Commissioner Simon Hartig visited Pittsburgh to view the material to be used for the bridge superstructure in August. Eigenmann & Hollenbach secured the contract for the substructure and received payments for their work into January 1894. The final claim of Eigenmann & Hollenback became so contentious that it ended up in court and was not settled until 1897. Massachusetts Bridge received its final payment in April 1894. Photographs suggest that Massachusetts Bridge erected a Warren through-truss structure capable of carrying a street railway.

Notes from the research of Jim Cooper

Although Massachusetts Bridge Company won the contract, the fabricated steel was shipped from Columbus, Ohio. The decorative elements are suggestive of the New Columbus Bridge Company, who was likely sublet for the fabrication.

Facts

Overview: Lost "Double-Barreled" Warren through truss bridge over Pigeon Creek on Franklin Street
Location: Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Status: Replaced by a new bridge
History: Built ca. 1898 by the New Columbus Bridge Company, replaced in 1932 by the current historic deck truss bridge.
Builder: - Massachusetts Bridge Co.
Design: Double-barreled Warren through truss
Approximate latitude, longitude: +37.98043, -87.58811 (decimal degrees)
37°58'50" N, 87°35'17" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 16/448351/4203807 (zone/easting/northing)
Inventory number: BH 82915 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

April 27, 2020: Updated by Tony Dillon: Added builder and other stuff
April 4, 2020: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch
September 20, 2018: Added by Tony Dillon

Related Bridges

Franklin Street Bridge (Successor)

Sources

Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
Melissa Brand-Welch - melissabrandwelch [at] msn [dot] com