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Eastwood Park Bridge

Ward County, North Dakota
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View of both false arches

Photo taken by J Lance on July 17, 2009

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A truly unusual design 

Written by J Lance

The Eastwood Park Bridge was built in 1927 and spans the Mouse (Souris) River in Minot, North Dakota. At first glance, the bridge appears to be a rainbow arch bridge. Upon closer inspection, it is actually an open spandrel deck arch bridge with a cantilevered main (center) span and an ornamental pony arch railing. The pony arch span rests upon the deck of the bridge, which rests upon the cantilevered arms on the underside of the bridge. This design was necessitated by a requirement by Ward County for the span to be an arch bridge. The county feared violating the patent for the Marsh arch bridge, so T.W. Sprague was hired to create an alternative design with the look of the fashionable Marsh arch bridge but the function of a deck arch bridge. The result is the only "false arch" bridge in the state of North Dakota. An attempt was made to raze the bridge in the mid-1970s but outrage by locals led to a restoration and listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This is a highly unusual bridge with a fascinating history.

Facts 

Overview
False arch bridge over Old Mouse River channel on 6th Street in Minot
Location
Minot, Ward County, North Dakota
Status
Open to pedestrians
History
Built 1927 by the Dakota Concrete Company; rehabilitated 1946 and 1977
Builder
- Dakota Concrete Co.
Design
This bridge is known as a "false arch" bridge. At first it appears to be a Marsh pony arch bridge, but is actually a cantilevered open spandrel deck arch bridge. The arch is ornamental and not functional.
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 65.0 ft.
Total length: 144.3 ft.
Deck width: 40.3 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on April 21, 1975
Approximate latitude, longitude
+48.23610, -101.28457   (decimal degrees)
48°14'10" N, 101°17'04" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
14/330365/5345065 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Minot
Inventory numbers
NRHP 75001307 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 43064 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Arch (9,419)
Built 1927 (533)
Built during 1920s (7,033)
Concrete pony arch (34)
Dakota Concrete Co. (1)
False Arch (1)
Have street view (9,889)
Minot, North Dakota (6)
 NR-listed (2,353)
North Dakota (447)
Open to Pedestrians (2,084)
Owned by city (3,050)
Rainbow arch (195)
Span length 50-75 feet (6,996)
Total length 125-175 feet (4,137)
Ward County, North Dakota (10)

Update Log 

  • August 12, 2012: Updated by J Lance: Added category "False Arch"
  • April 19, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
  • November 17, 2009: Updated by J Lance: Added coordinates
  • July 24, 2009: Essay added by J Lance
  • July 23, 2009: Added by J Lance

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Comments 

Eastwood Park Bridge
Posted July 24, 2009, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

This is definitely a unique bridge. I know that I have never seen one like this.