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Rulo Bridge

Richardson County, Nebraska, and Holt County, Missouri
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Photos 

Overview

The Rulo Bridge is a very narrow bridge with a bend to the left on its eastern approach.

Photo taken by James McCray

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Map 

Street View 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over Missouri River on US 159 at Rulo
Location
Rulo, Richardson County, Nebraska, and Holt County, Missouri
Status
Imploded January 19, 2014
History
Built 1938, Replaced 2013
Builders
- Harrington & Cortelyou (Consulting engineers)
- Kansas City Bridge Co. of Kansas City, Missouri (Contractor)
- Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. of Leavenworth, Kansas (Contractor)
- Works Progress Administration
Design
Pennsylvania through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 379.1 ft.
Total length: 2,155.2 ft. (0.4 mi.)
Deck width: 20.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 13.8 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1993
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.05252, -95.42051   (decimal degrees)
40°03'09" N, 95°25'14" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/293534/4436393 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Rulo
Inventory numbers
NRHP 92000718 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
MoDOT L-97 (Missouri Dept. of Transportation bridge number)
BH 24486 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 10/2010)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 37.3 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
1,750

Categories 

Built 1938 (615)
Built during 1930s (8,945)
Curved (183)
Deck truss (1,083)
Functionally obsolete (7,151)
Harrington & Cortelyou (2)
Have street view (13,947)
Holt County, Missouri (63)
Kansas City Bridge Co. (109)
Lost (11,654)
Lost 2013 (126)
Lost during 2010s (884)
Missouri (4,637)
Missouri River (99)
Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. (77)
NR-listed (2,608)
 Navigable waterway (1,599)
Nebraska (1,233)
Owned by state (10,469)
Pennsylvania truss (324)
Replaced by new bridge (7,948)
Richardson County, Nebraska (58)
Rulo, Nebraska (3)
Span length 250-500 feet (909)
State line crossing (561)
Through truss (10,026)
Total length 1000-2500 feet (1,303)
Truss (24,729)
US 159 (1)
Warren deck truss (387)
Warren truss (4,347)
Works Progress Administration (165)

Update Log 

  • November 7, 2013: Updated by David Backlin: Closed, Pending Demolition
  • January 28, 2013: Updated by Nathan Holth: Updated planned demolition date.
  • August 4, 2012: New photo from James McCray
  • November 2, 2011: New photos from Jason Smith
  • October 8, 2011: New photos from Ben Tate
  • August 18, 2011: New photos from James Baughn
  • July 28, 2011: New photos from James McCray
  • June 5, 2009: Updated by Robert Elder: Updated Categories. Bridge is scheduled for replacement.
  • March 22, 2008: New photos from James McCray

Sources 

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Comments 

Rulo Bridge
Posted September 4, 2013, by Lyon Wonder (lyon_wonder [at] yahoo [dot] com)

The replacement for the US-159 Rulo bridge is now open to traffic.

http://www.kmaland.com/news/article_fe0bdcbc-148b-11e3-ad68-001a4bcf6878.html

Rulo Bridge
Posted June 28, 2013, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

The first time I drove over this bridge, the knee bracings were still intact. There were signs specifically warning trucks about the lower height restriction on the sides of the bridge. This would have been around the year 2000, probably.

Rulo Bridge
Posted August 5, 2012, by Jim Lueken (lueken [at] bellsouth [dot] net)

Interesting modification noted in photos. Portal bracing on all spans were modified by removing 45 degree gusseting back to truss. No doubt to gain additional clearance for trucks. Also demonstrates how these old structures were over-built, that even after hacking out members the bridge maintains integrity....not so with modern replacement spans. Will this span be kept after new bridge opens..?..perhaps as a pedestrian bridge? Hope so...

Rulo Bridge
Posted October 4, 2011, by James Simmons (james [at] simmons [dot] net)

Its a shame that they're demolishing it, but from a practical pov, it really did need replaced. 20 feet is just to narrow for today's transportation. It'd have been great if they'd kept the bridge though.

Rulo Bridge
Posted July 29, 2011, by Gary Sprandel (jaidite [at] aol [dot] com)

Rulo bridge made an appearance on Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers a season or two ago as Sean Casey in TIV II (Tornado Intercept Vehicle) followed shortly by Reed Timmer in the Dominator (Reed's TIV or as Casey calls it The Duplicator)had to get into Missouri to make a storm intercept.

IIRC the bridge also appears in the movie Paper Moon.

Rulo Bridge
Posted July 28, 2011, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

Nebraska appears to be the lead agency for this project, so the failure is theirs that this historic bridge is not being preserved for pedestrian use next to the replacement structure which is so ugly I needed a...

Uploaded file: JPEG image data, JFIF standard 1.01, 97075 bytes

Rulo Bridge
Posted July 28, 2011, by James McCray (jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com)

As one can see in the photos a new replacement bridge is being built to eventually replace the existing Rulo Bridge. It is sad knowing that the Rulo Bridge will be demolished. Anyone with a whole lot of money is welcome to save this bridge.

Rulo Bridge
Posted March 25, 2008, by David B. Haun (dbhaun [at] gmail [dot] com)

Add Category to Rulo, Nebraska to Rulo Bridge