Rating:
6 votes

Neosho River K-47 Bridge

Neosho County, Kansas
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Photos 

Photo taken by Robert Elder

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Map 

Street Views 

Facts 

Overview
Lost cantilever truss bridge over Neosho River on K-47
Location
Neosho County, Kansas
Status
Replaced by a new bridge
History
Built 1937, demolished ca. 2013-2014
Design
Cantilevered Warren through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 200.1 ft.
Total length: 527.9 ft.
Deck width: 24.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 15.2 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+37.51341, -95.21562   (decimal degrees)
37°30'48" N, 95°12'56" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/304183/4154135 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Erie
Inventory numbers
KDOT 0067-B0043 (Kansas Dept. of Transportation bridge number)
BH 18302 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 03/2011)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 54.4 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
2,060

Categories 

Built 1937 (706)
Built during 1930s (10,468)
Cantilevered (290)
Cantilevered truss (246)
Functionally obsolete (7,920)
Have street view (21,731)
Kansas (2,678)
Kansas cantilever (7)
Lost (18,473)
Lost 2013 (246)
Lost during 2010s (1,918)
Neosho County, Kansas (41)
 Neosho River (48)
Owned by state (13,463)
Replaced by new bridge (12,213)
Span length 175-250 feet (1,796)
TRUSS Award 2012 (15)
Through truss (12,830)
Total length 500-1000 feet (2,507)
Truss (29,324)
Warren through truss (1,434)
Warren through truss with all verticals (328)
Warren truss (5,715)

Update Log 

  • January 7, 2014: Updated by Robert Elder: Bridge has been demolished
  • October 20, 2010: Updated by Tom Sevart: Edited to correct highway number
  • July 13, 2010: New Street View added by Robert Elder
  • July 11, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Edited Future prospects - this bridge appears to be doomed
  • March 9, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Added Street View link
  • February 15, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Added GPS Coordinates.
  • February 28, 2008: Updated by Robert Elder: Edited "Name" to reflect highway name change.

Sources 

  • Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Tom Sevart
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Comments 

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted January 7, 2014, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Shucks. I will update the listing.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted January 7, 2014, by Priscilla Petersen (priscilla [at] ksdot [dot] org)

This bridge has been taken down - it no longer exists.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted October 10, 2013, by Priscilla Petersen (priscilla [at] ksdot [dot] org)

The new bridge was opened to traffic in late August 2013.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted April 1, 2013, by Julie (jmjacquinot [at] gmail [dot] com)

Closed now. the new one is not near done, seems work on it ceased.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted February 8, 2013, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Sounds like that bridge is going up quickly. When I crossed this bridge in late 2011, no work had been done at all - except perhaps for some surveying.

If anybody wants to visit this bridge, do it now. Soon, there will only be two of them left. Only the Nebraska one is recognized as historic.

There once were several in Kansas, so perhaps they were just considered common technology.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted February 8, 2013, by Anonymous

The replacement bridge is nearly complete,it appeared they had finished the deck and are now working on the approach when I took that pic last week.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted February 4, 2013, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Eric:

Thanks for the photograph. I understand that the replacement bridge is under construction. These Kansas Cantilevers are becoming and endangered species.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted February 4, 2013, by Eric

I hate to see this one go,it's a beauty.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted September 6, 2012, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Well, that will leave only two Kansas Cantilevers. One of them in Kansas, and the other in Nebraska. This design was once common in the area and apparently not considered historically significant when studies were conducted in the early 1980s.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted September 5, 2012, by Tom Sevart

Construction on the replacement bridge is underway, so this bridge has a very limited time left before it's lost.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted March 13, 2012, by julie bowers (jbowerz1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

3 for 4 on my Robert Elder bridge spotting road trip today. What or how is it a cantilever. Do they build from the sides and then the span in the middle?

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted January 7, 2012, by Tony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

It has a big vote from me Robert!

This is a beautiful and unique bridge that looks to be in extremely good condition...makes NO sense whatsoever!

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted January 7, 2012, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

I know we can't preserve every historic bridge, but this is a very good example of one of the small scale cantilver truss bridges that were once common in the region. I have nominated it for a TRUSS award, but if anybody wants to nominated it as well, that would be great. If nothing else, perhaps it could be bypassed like the Saline River Bridge in Ellis Co.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted January 7, 2012, by Tom Sevart (n2uhc [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Talked to my wife's uncle who works for KDOT, and he says this bridge is still scheduled for replacement.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted October 20, 2010, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Interestingly, there are two cantilver trusses on this stretch of the river and they are both doomed. The other one (Shaw Bridge) is probably lost already.

Neosho River K-47 Bridge
Posted October 20, 2010, by Tom Sevart (n2uhc [at] yahoo [dot] com)

That's too bad... I've had a lot of fun fishing underneath this bridge.

Neosho River K-58 Bridge
Posted July 11, 2010, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

KDOT has plans to demolish this cantilever truss bridge in 2012. Funds are not yet available. This article discusses both this brige, and the nearby cantilver bridge at Shaw - also doomed.

http://www.parsonssun.com/view/full_story_obits/6503383/arti...

Neosho River K-58 Bridge
Posted October 9, 2008, by Tom Sevart (n2uhc [at] yahoo [dot] com)

This bridge is actually on K-47 (used to be K-57) about two miles west of St. Paul.