Bois D'Arc Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Little Walnut River, 3.8 mi. east and 0.5 mi. north of Gordon
- Location
- Butler County, Kansas
- Status
- Closed. Formerly open to traffic with a 6'6" height restriction.
- History
- Built 1885
- Builder
- - Kansas City Bridge & Iron Co. of Kansas City, Missouri
- Design
- Pratt through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 100.0 ft.
Total length: 196.8 ft.
Deck width: 13.4 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 12.5 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places
- Also called
- Little Walnut River Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +37.59633, -96.92350 (decimal degrees)
37°35'47" N, 96°55'25" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 14/683316/4163055 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Gordon
- Average daily traffic (as of 2017)
- 50
- Inventory numbers
- KS 000080865806307 (Kansas local bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 17496 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of February 2017)
- Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 20.9 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- December 29, 2017: Updated by Robert Elder: Closed
- November 23, 2014: New photos from Rob Brock
- January 21, 2011: Updated by Robert Elder: Moved the alternate name to the appropriate blank
- May 19, 2010: New Street View added by Robert Elder
- March 8, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Added Street View link.
- February 11, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Edited Status Description
- January 21, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Adjusted GPS Coordinates
- July 8, 2009: Updated by Robert Elder: Edited Categories.
- November 10, 2008: New photo from Robert Elder
- July 23, 2008: Updated by Robert Elder: Updated Builders and Categories.
- March 2, 2008: Updated by Robert Elder: Edited "Year Built" and "History"
- February 27, 2008: Updated by Robert Elder: Edited "Name" "Design" and NRHP
Sources
- Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Rob Brock - k0pvw [dot] mobile [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
This bridge has been closed to traffic. The Butler County Government did a very interesting write-up on their Facebook page about this bridge. I have high confidence that it's going to be preserved, whether or not it reopens to traffic someday. Butler County seems to do a very good job of retaining its historic bridges.
I believe the Butler County has five 1880s wrought iron bridges with one of them being on private property. The county also has a noteworthy collection of stone arch bridges and concrete through girder bridges.
The new map feature has been a great addition to this website. This has allowed me to make fine adjustments to the GPS Coordinates of many bridges.
I have added "wrought iron" to categories for this bridge considering the builders and the construction date of 1885. This seems appropriate unless proven otherwise.
This bridge is also known as the Bois d'arc Bridge. This bridge, in Butler County, Kansas carries Purity Springs Road over the Little Walnut River at the town of Bois d'arc. The main span is a 6 panel pin connected Pratt through truss. This bridge, which was built in 1885 by the Kansas City Bridge and Iron Company, is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ks/butler/80865806307/
This bridge is also under siege by floodwaters:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=MHv2McL2_pc
The Little Walnut River, and the Whitewater River, are both tributaries to the Walnut River. These are beautiful rivers, but they are also prone to disastrous flooding.