Rating:
14 votes

Old Richardsville Road Bridge

Warren County, Kentucky
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Old Richardsville Road Bridge Overview

The Old Richardsville Road Bridge is a three span bowstring bridge over the Barren River just to the north of Bowling Green, KY on Old Richardsville Road.

Photo taken by James McCray

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Map 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Three span Bowstring Arch Truss bridge over Barren River on Old Richardsville Road in Bowling Green
Location
Warren County, Kentucky
Status
Open to traffic.
History
Built 1889
Builder
- King Bridge Co. of Cleveland, Ohio
Design
Three Span Bowstring Through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 138.1 ft.
Total length: 422.8 ft.
Deck width: 11.2 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.6 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on November 26, 1980
Approximate latitude, longitude
+37.02056, -86.44722   (decimal degrees)
37°01'14" N, 86°26'50" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/549170/4097295 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Bowling Green North
Inventory numbers
NRHP 80004496 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
KY 114-C00011N (Kentucky bridge number)
BH 18950 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 03/2016)
Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 17.6 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2006)
165

Categories 

19th Century (6,139)
Barren River (Kentucky) (5)
Bowstring through truss (188)
Bowstring truss (376)
Built during 1880s (1,633)
Kentucky (1,075)
King Bridge Co. (284)
NR-listed (2,836)
One-lane traffic (7,412)
 Open (36,253)
Owned by county (18,753)
Span length 125-175 feet (3,745)
Structurally deficient (18,336)
Through truss (12,830)
Total length 250-500 feet (4,560)
Truss (29,324)
Warren County, Kentucky (8)
Wooden deck (5,843)

Update Log 

  • August 12, 2017: New photos from Jack Schmidt
  • December 28, 2016: Updated by Nathan Holth: Bridge open to traffic per Nov 2016 site visit.
  • March 24, 2015: Updated by Art Suckewer: Updated status - closed for redecking, repairs. Corrected year built
  • May 18, 2013: New photos from Larry Dooley
  • June 21, 2010: New photos from James McCray
  • June 20, 2010: New photos from J.P.
  • May 3, 2009: Updated by C Hanchey: updated NRHP info
  • March 8, 2008: Updated by James McCray
  • January 29, 2008: New photos from James McCray

Sources 

  • James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • C Hanchey - cmh2315fl [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • J.P. - wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Larry Dooley
  • Nathan Holth
  • Jack Schmidt - jjturtle [at] earthlink [dot] net
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Comments 

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted March 24, 2015, by Will Truax (Bridgewright [at] gmail [dot] com)

Flooring is currently undergoing replacement -

http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/Repairs-Temporarily-Close...

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted August 31, 2014, by ArtS (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)

RIP Mr. Garvin. Hopefully the bridge will live on as part of his legacy.

Can someone with the appropriate editorial powers move Michael Page's post so that it is associated with this bridge?

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted January 29, 2011, by Anthony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

What a fantastic bridge!

I didn't know about this one until the day I came across a picture of it......on a Jones Soda bottle.

I still have that bottle.....much to my wife's chagrin!

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted January 29, 2011, by Matthew Lohry

Fortunately, it appears that the deterioration of the bridge is restricted to the wood that the deck is made of, which is easy and cheap to replace, and doesn't affect historic integrity.

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted January 29, 2011, by J.P.

great photos.

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted January 29, 2011, by Barry Griffith (timberhead)

I took these pictures Jan26, 2011 in a blanketing snow.

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted November 15, 2010, by Mike Page (mike [dot] page [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Although this bridge was beautifully restored 2 decades ago, it's beginning to fall into disrepair again. I rode a motorcycle across the bridge recently, and noticed that several deck boards had fallen completely through.

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted April 6, 2010, by Mike Page (mike [dot] page [at] hotmail [dot] com)

The bridge may very well be haunted, I have no idea. But as for cars rolling across it; I've kayaked under it, and the bridge is on a slight incline. I'd wager that basketballs and beer kegs would roll across it too.

Just an observation...

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted April 6, 2010, by Mike Page (mike [dot] page [at] hotmail [dot] com)

A nice article in the local paper about David Garvin, the man who pretty much saved the Richardsville Road and State Street bridges in Warren County, KY single handed, with his own money.

http://bgdailynews.com/articles/2010/04/02/news/news5.txt

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted December 30, 2008, by Morgan (shortnsweet182 [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Some friend and I went on the bridge last night and our car really did get pushed all the way to the other side of the bridge when we were in neutral. we didn't put powder on the car for handprints but we plan to go back and try again. Do you know the story behind it? who the woman is and all that? I really would love to know.

thanks,

Morgan

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted July 17, 2008, by audrey deweese (adeweese_chevy [at] yahoo [dot] com)

i have heard ghost stories of this bridge ever since i was little and i was just wondering if any body knew if they were true? they were about a girl who got killed and they say if you stop she will push you across the bridge and that if you but powder on your trunk you will see her had prints. please e-mail me back!!!!

Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Posted March 14, 2008, by Anthony Dillon (dillon [dot] fam [at] att [dot] net)

Glad to see pictures of this bridge. I have been looking for information on it since I "found" it on a Jones Soda bottle. I knew from looking at it that it was a King B.C. product, and that it was very long. Thanks for the pics.