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Esch's Spur Bridge

Cowley County, Kansas
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Photos 

Oblique view

Photo taken by James Baughn

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Map 

Essay 

Written by Clark Vance

Esch's Spur probably refers to Bernard P. Esch, Stockraiser, Liberty Township, Section 33, named in the 1905 Geo A. Ogle & Co atlas. The map of Liberty township shows the 1/4 section to the north of this road owned by (Wm. H.?) Kirk and to the south by Catherine Esch, with the residence of B. P. Esch. A short piece of rail runs parallel to the Missouri Pacific line and is labeled Esch Spur.

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Facts 

Overview
Three-span stone arch bridge over Grouse Creek, southwest of Dexter
Location
Cowley County, Kansas
Status
Open to one-lane traffic
History
Built 1913
Builder
- Walter Sharp Bridge Co.
Design
Stone arch
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 50.9 ft.
Total length: 182.1 ft.
Deck width: 13.1 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on July 2, 1985
Also called
Kirk Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+37.13547, -96.78136   (decimal degrees)
37°08'08" N, 96°46'53" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
14/697068/4112204 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Eaton
Land survey
T. 33 S., R. 6 E., Sec 33
Elevation
1137 ft. above sea level
Inventory numbers
NRHP 85001423 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
KS 000180881506945 (Kansas local bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 17627 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 02/2016)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 45.1 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2014)
25

Categories 

Arch (11,125)
Built 1913 (734)
Built during 1910s (8,686)
Cowley County, Kansas (62)
Deck arch (10,368)
Kansas (2,670)
NR-listed (2,836)
 One-lane traffic (7,409)
Open (36,138)
Owned by county (18,712)
Span length 50-75 feet (8,807)
Stone arch (2,631)
Total length 175-250 feet (3,707)
Walter Sharp Bridge Co. (9)

Update Log 

  • February 3, 2017: New photos from Nick Schmiedeler
  • October 1, 2016: Essay added by Clark Vance
  • September 28, 2016: New photo from steve tredway
  • December 24, 2014: New photo from steve tredway
  • February 5, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Adjusted GPS Coordinates.
  • November 8, 2009: New photo from Mike LeMasters

Sources 

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Comments 

Esch's Spur Bridge
Posted May 4, 2015, by steve Tredway (stredway1 [at] cox [dot] net)

I have posted a picture of the plaque. Built in 1913. It is called the Kirks bridge. Esch's Spur referred to the rail line that passed near there. You can read the rest on the plaque.

Esch's Spur Bridge
Posted August 6, 2007, by Sue Bozeman (bozesj [at] cox [dot] net)

There is an inscription on the upstream side of what has come to be known as "Esch's Spur" bridge. It reads: KIRK BRIDGE. At least, I think it does. Plus, there are several more lines of information that we could not discern. Anyone able to read more? There is so much debris abutted against the bridge now that it might be able to climb up to the inscription and take a rubbing!