Deer Creek Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Pony truss bridge over Deer Creek, 1.0 mi. south and 2.0 mi. west of Berwick
- Location
- Nemaha County, Kansas
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1891
- Builder
- - Seevers Manufacturing Co. of Oskaloosa, Iowa
- Design
- Bedstead Pratt pony truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 36.1 ft.
Total length: 61.0 ft.
Deck width: 13.1 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.91584, -95.88237 (decimal degrees)
39°54'57" N, 95°52'57" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/253641/4422394 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Bern
- Average daily traffic (as of 2008)
- 10
- Inventory numbers
- KS 000660975003108 (Kansas local bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 18271 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of June 2017)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 18.9 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- November 22, 2017: New photo from Nick Schmiedeler
- November 21, 2017: Updated by Robert Elder: Added Date, Design, and Builder.
- November 10, 2017: New photos from Nick Schmiedeler
- July 23, 2016: Updated by Robert Elder: Fixed creek name, edited built date.
- July 22, 2016: Updated by Robert Elder: Added categories "Bedstead", "George E. King Bridge Co."
Sources
- Nick Schmiedeler - nick [at] nickschmiedeler [dot] com
- Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
- KSHS PDF
Comments
Thank you Robert for all the research. Love the unique tapered elements of this one. And love that it is open to traffic still, albeit very light traffic, guess those work hand in hand here.....that plaque!! Wish it were still there - posted photo of it you shared with me from 1989.
Luke:
Nemaha County used to have a massive number of pony trusses, but very few remain. I believe very strongly that this bridge will be demolished in the immediate future if nothing is done.
I have contacts at KSHS. Would anybody be interested in doing a NRHP Listing? We have to start somewhere!
This is one of the last three Seevers spans remaining. I hope Kansas preserves it.
I have just edited the KSHS PDF. This new PDF contains additional photographs of the bridge - including one of the plaque.
I have edited the KHRI listing for this bridge. My edits should be visible on the public side in a few days. Any insight about the unusual features on this bridge would be welcome.
Given the high rate of bridge demolitions in the area, this one should be considered to be at an extremely high risk for demolition. This would be most unfortunate, given the unusual design and the rare features of this bridge.
In the early 1980s, this bridge was not considered eligible for the NRHP, but I would strongly support the reversal of that decision. This bridge clearly has high significance.
This is a very unusual Bedstead with multiple unusual features. I will try to update the KHRI when I get home. This one MUST be preserved at all costs!
I would be interested to know what the experts on here think about it.
Pretty dang interesting bedstead. Most definitely need input on understanding this one better, among the more unique features are the elongated-triangular verticals and diagonal connections, narrowing at the top, could not find another one in the archives quite like it, the bent loop connections underneath seem strange, several things.....bit of a rural spot yet remains open and seems solid, could have hung around with this old thing all day
Good catch, anonymous.
Unnamed Creek Bridge ... across Deer Creek.
This one still exists - for now. It is a rare example of a Bedstead built by George King.
KHRI link:
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ks/nemaha/660975003108/
And according to the link, one of only 3 known Seevers left standing in the U.S., one of only 2 still open, and it is the oldest of those. Excited.