Sweetwater Mill Bridge

Photos

Taken in 1989

Photo taken from NRHP Form

View this photo at nebraskahistory.org

BH Photo #275373

Map

Maps and Databases

Description

In November 1908 the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors adopted bridge plans prepared by the Standard Bridge Company as the county standards. The board awarded an annual bridge construction contract to Standard two months later, purchasing numerous small-scale bridges from the Omaha-based firm throughout 1909. Among the structures ordered in May was this eighty-foot pinned pony truss over Mud Creek in Beaver Township. Located at the Sweetwater Mill near the county's northern edge, the truss replaced an earlier bridge at this location, using the existing stringer approaches on both sides of the channel span in conjunction with new H-shaped steel pile bent supports for the truss. Standard completed the bridge later in 1909, using steel components rolled by Illinois Steel Company. Although the pinned pony truss of the Sweetwater Bridge is unremarkable as a typical example of a relatively common structural type, the bridge is significant as one of the earliest and best preserved examples remaining in the state of an original Standard Bridge Company built-up H-pile substructure.

Facts

Overview: 5-panel pin-connected Pratt pony truss bridge over Mud Creek on Sweetwater Road at Sweetwater
Location: Buffalo County, Nebraska
Status: Open to traffic
History: Built 1909
Builders: - Illinois Steel Co. of Chicago, Illinois (Fabricator)
- Standard Bridge Co. of Omaha, Nebraska (Builder/Designer)
Design: Pratt pony truss
Dimensions: Span length: 80.1 ft.
Total length: 80.1 ft.
Deck width: 15.7 ft.
Recognition: Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on June 29, 1992
Approximate latitude, longitude: +41.04094, -99.00778 (decimal degrees)
41°02'27" N, 99°00'28" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 14/499346/4543302 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:: Hazard
Average daily traffic (as of 2000): 5
Inventory numbers: NRHP 92000767 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 23811 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of September 2017): Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 31.2 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Update Log

June 20, 2022: New photos from James McCray
February 20, 2014: Updated by Dave King: Added description, builders, imported photos

Sources

Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
NRHP Form
James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com