Rating:
2 votes

Lakewood Park Bridge

Saline County, Kansas

Photos 

Photo taken by Jack Schmidt

Enlarge

BH Photo #272516

Map 

Street View 

Confirmation - bridge is extant 

Written by Robert Elder

Google 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
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 November 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

Categories 

19th Century (6,825)
Built 1887 (206)
Built during 1880s (1,821)
Have street view (25,188)
Kansas (2,966)
Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Works (25)
NR-listed (2,869)
Open to pedestrians (3,787)
Othmar H. Ammann Nominee (43)
Owned by city (4,890)
Park (270)
Pin-connected (3,675)
 Pratt through truss (4,933)
Pratt truss (8,624)
Relocated (765)
Salina, Kansas (5)
Saline County, Kansas (46)
Skewed (4,804)
Smoky Hill River (12)
Span length 75-100 feet (6,135)
Through truss (13,906)
Total length 75-100 feet (6,336)
Truss (31,044)
Wooden deck (5,992)

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
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Comments 

Lakewood Park Bridge
Posted December 16, 2017, by Nick Schmiedeler (nick [at] nickschmiedeler [dot] com)

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

Lakewood Park Bridge
Posted August 29, 2016, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Yep, gotta look at those details...they sometimes raise more questions than answers...

Nothing like making our favorite hobby even more fun :- D

Lakewood Park Bridge
Posted August 29, 2016, by Tony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Geeze Robert... You use a magnifying glass to look at the pics on BH?!? ;-)

It is a bit Womper-jawed, isn't it?

Lakewood Park Bridge
Posted August 28, 2016, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

I just noticed that the angled lattice knee bracings on this bridge are not all quite identical...

Lakewood Park Bridge
Posted January 6, 2014, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

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.

Lakewood Park Bridge
Posted January 5, 2014, by Jack Schmidt (jjturtle [at] earthlink [dot] net)

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.

Lakewood Park Bridge
Posted March 26, 2010, by Anthony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Well traveled little bridge....glad to see they saved it.

Lakewood Park Bridge
Posted March 26, 2010, by John Kritos (1kritos [at] comcast [dot] net)

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.

Lakewood Park Bridge
Posted June 8, 2009, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

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.