Lakewood Park Bridge
Confirmation - bridge is extant
Written by Robert ElderGoogle Earth confirms that this bridge is extant. Intstead of being demolished, it was moved a few blocks upstream where it carries a pedestrian path that leads to Lakewood Middle School.
I drove across this bridge several years ago when it stood at the entrance to Lakewood Park. I had to be in Salina in 2008 and thus returned to the park to photograph the bridge. Because the bridge had been removed and replaced by a modern bridge, I assumed it had been demolished despite its NRHP listing. Consequently, I changed its status to lost.
I have not visited the bridge since it was relocated, but I now know its location and have updated this page accordingly.
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Smoky Hill River on Lakewood Drive in Salina
- Location
- Salina, Saline County, Kansas
- Status
- Relocated to Lakewood Park Middle School where it serves as a pedestrian bridge.
- History
- Built 1887 by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Works
- Builder
- - Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Works of Leavenworth, Kansas [also known as Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.]
- Design
- Pratt through truss
- Dimensions
-
Span length: 99.1 ft.
Total length: 99.1 ft.
Deck width: 15.4 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 17.5 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on June 9, 2004
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +38.84452, -97.59307 (decimal degrees)
38°50'40" N, 97°35'35" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 14/622097/4300463 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Salina
- Average daily traffic (as of 2013)
- 720
- Inventory numbers
- NRHP 04000579 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 18499 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of August 2017)
- Overall condition: Good
Superstructure condition rating: Very Good (8 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 98.9 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- January 3, 2018: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added category "Pin-connected"
- December 27, 2017: Updated by Dana and Kay Klein: Added category "Othmar H. Ammann Nominee"
- January 6, 2014: New Street View added by Luke Harden
- January 5, 2014: New photos from Luke Harden
- March 12, 2010: Essay added by Robert Elder
- June 8, 2009: Updated by Robert Elder
- February 27, 2008: Updated by Robert Elder
Sources
- Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Jack Schmidt - jjturtle [at] earthlink [dot] net
Comments
Yep, gotta look at those details...they sometimes raise more questions than answers...
Nothing like making our favorite hobby even more fun :- D
Geeze Robert... You use a magnifying glass to look at the pics on BH?!? ;-)
It is a bit Womper-jawed, isn't it?
I just noticed that the angled lattice knee bracings on this bridge are not all quite identical...
I am glad to see photographs of this bridge in its 3rd location. In truth, it looks better here than it did at Lakewood Park. Previously, it had a concrete deck, so it really just looked like a concrete bridge with a nice green truss on top.
The railings are obviously not original, but they do not appear to conceal the historic features of the bridge.
James,
Picture taken 8-13-13
My GPS N38 50.670 W97 35.585
Thanks,
Jack
I thought it was about high time I started sending you some of the pictures that I got of bridges you don't have. Sorry for neglecting your site. You've done a remarkable job of correcting the GPS coordinates.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.
Well traveled little bridge....glad to see they saved it.
I travel to Salina occasionally to visit family and I have driven past this bridge. It is in very good condition since its relocation. I will try to photograph it the next time I am in the area.
Great news, it appears that this bridge may not be lost after all.
http://www.salina.com/salinafyi/GUIDE-ot-historic-sites-pg-7...
This link has a photo of the bridge, which appears to have indeed been retrofitted for pedestrian use.
http://www.kshs.org/resource/national_register/search.php?pr...
Next time I am in Salina, I will have to try to find this "Elvis" Bridge. For now, I will update this bridge page to reflect that the bridge has been preserved.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ks/saline/lakewood-park/
Have been in contact with a local Salina gentleman named Glen Soldan, he says this bridge was originally called the Thompson Bridge, named after his great-grandfather Ed Thompson who was born middle 1800's in a sod dugout in western Saline county, he was responsible for the construction of most the roads in Salina, later moved to Blue Mound, Kansas and became the mayor there