Poteau River Bridge
Photos
Poteau River Bridge near Loving
This is actually a Petite Pennsylvania Truss
Photo taken by Gene McCluney in May 2007
BH Photo #128887
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Poteau River on N4812
- Location
- Le Flore County, Oklahoma
- Status
- Closed to traffic; Bypassed by new bridge
- History
- Built 1937
- Builder
- - Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania & Woodlawn, Pennsylvania (Iron/Steel Manufacturer)
- Design
- Pin-connected Pennsylvania through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 200.1 ft.
Total length: 202.1 ft.
Deck width: 13.5 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.5 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +34.87985, -94.48418 (decimal degrees)
34°52'47" N, 94°29'03" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/364363/3860723 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Bates
- Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
- 200
- Inventory numbers
- OKNBI 055060000000000 (Oklahoma bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 29224 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of December 2011)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 17.8 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- January 24, 2010: New photo from Wayne Kizziar
- January 18, 2010: Updated by Wayne Kizziar: Bridge is now closed. Future prospects uncertain.
- December 2, 2008: New photo from Gene McCluney
Sources
- Gene McCluney - gmacfilm [at] live [dot] com
- Wayne Kizziar - waynekizziar [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
This bridge is far older than 1937. Most pinned Pennsylvania trusses like this generally land somewhere in the 1895-1905 zone. I have seen one like this as late as 1914, but it was a little more massive. Otherwise, to find a pin-connected Pennsylvania newer than that you probably are seeing a very large long-spanning bridge. 1938 Tunnelton Bridge in Pennsylvania for example, although it has pin/rivet combination/hybrid connections. http://www.historicbridges.org/pennsylvania/tunnelton/index....
I suspect that this bridge may be older than 1937. I would be surprised that a bridge this late would use pinned connections.
This bridge looks like it might possibly be a Kansas City Bridge Co. structure.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ok/le-flore/55060000000000/
As of 4/17/2013 the new bridge is built and in place some 150+ yards east of this bridge. This bridge is still standing and somebody (likely a local farmer) has torched the barricades off and it is being used to move farm equipment between pastures.
i don't know if it helps you to approximately date it or make-it, but the name "Jones and Laughlin" appears on the heavier bracing, and the stylized "illinois" stamp on the lighter-duty bracing. Thought it possible Some of you guys with a lot of bridge hunting/researching experience might be able to discern something from that.
Couldn't get any decent pictures, was a cold, rainy,dark day when I was out there.