Salt Creek-Marble Rd. Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Pony truss bridge over Salt Creek, 1.0 mi. north and 1.5 mi. east of Belleville
- Location
- Republic County, Kansas
- Status
- Closed to all traffic
- Design
- 3-panel, pinned Bedstead Pratt pony truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 39.0 ft.
Total length: 66.9 ft.
Deck width: 16.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.84128, -97.60440 (decimal degrees)
39°50'29" N, 97°36'16" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 14/619405/4411073 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Belleville SE
- Land survey
- T. 2 S., R. 3 W., Sec. 25
- Inventory numbers
- KS 000790791503220 (Kansas local bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 18436 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection (as of 10/2007)
- Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 19.5 (out of 100) - Average daily traffic (as of 2004)
- 10
Update Log
- July 24, 2017: New Street View added by Robert Elder
- July 23, 2017: Updated by Robert Elder: Added category "Laced endposts"
- July 5, 2017: Updated by Tony Dillon: Added new info
- July 5, 2017: New photos from Nick Schmiedeler
Sources
- Nick Schmiedeler
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
Nathan:
Thanks for posting that link. I am suspecting that these assemblies are not necessarily indicative of any particular builder.
Also present on upper lateral bracing of Euritt Bridge
http://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=io...
I will still try to research those cast iron assemblies. So far, I only know of two bridges (including this one) that have them. I welcome all comments.
That sounds reasonable to me. This is definitely worth saving due to its unusual details.
I would say it's a safe bet that this one is ca. 1880
Wait, I think that I answered my own question. The Green Mill Ford Bridge, an 1871 King Iron Bridge Co. Bowstring in Bremer Co. Iowa has those cast iron assemblies as well:
http://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=io...
These seem to be exceptionally rare features.
The more I look at this bridge, the more I realize just how unusual it is. In addition to those iron clasps and the fish belly for beams, this bridge has laced top chords.
Does anybody else recognize those circular iron clasps on the diagonals? It seems like I have seen those somewhere but I just can't recall. I still think that this could potentially be a late 1870s bridge. If so, it would be just about the oldest bedstead in existence and would have National significance.
Yes, I noticed those as well. This is a very old and very significant bridge. It also symbolizes the status of many abandoned bridges in Kansas. This is why I am worried about bridges in this area. So many great bridges in such great danger...
WOW! Just WOW! Okay, there I said it.
This one has circular iron "clasps" that guide the diagonal. I seem to recall that some 1870s Bowstrings have these...
Nick, you might be finding some rare 1870s bridges...
Found it....long walk down very old closed public road - tree damage and some rot but fun elevation over creek, great survivor just a few blocks from thriving metropolis of Belleville
The latest Google imagery for this bridge was taken while a fire was in progress nearby. The bridge location is obscured by smoke.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ks/republic/790791503220/
Looks like they are also found on this bridge in Nebraska:
http://bridgehunter.com/ne/gage/de-witt-mill/