Bird Creek Bridge (Westbound, 1936)
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Bird Creek on OK 66 WB in Catoosa
- Location
- Catoosa, Rogers County, Oklahoma
- Status
- Replaced by new bridge, however, truss sections preserved in different places (see county bridgehunter.com listing)
- History
- Built 1936; Replaced 2011; truss sections split and preserved (see bridgehunter.com respective county page)
- Builder
- - M.E. Gillioz of Monett, Missouri
- Design
- These bridges are different in width, but identical in truss configuration. From north to south, there are: two 5-panel Camelback Parker pony trusses; one 8-panel Pennsylvania "K" through truss, one 10-panel Pennsylvania "K" through truss, one 7-panel "K" truss, and one more 5-panel Camelback Parker pony truss. All spans are rivet-connected.
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 210.0 ft.
Total length: 824.2 ft.
Deck width: 24.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.7 ft.
- Also called
- H Tom Knight Jr Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +36.20833, -95.72500 (decimal degrees)
36°12'30" N, 95°43'30" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/255021/4010498 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Catoosa
- Average daily traffic (as of 2008)
- 9,050
- Inventory numbers
- OKNBI 050480000000000 (Oklahoma bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 29699 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of January 2010)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 2 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- May 25, 2019: New photos from Joe Sonderman
- July 6, 2015: New photos from Michael Shulman
- January 10, 2011: Updated by David Backlin: Closed/Pending Replacement
- December 6, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
- December 6, 2010: Updated by Matthew Lohry: Updated design type
- December 9, 2009: Updated by David Backlin: Corrected alternate name
- November 24, 2009: Updated by Rick Mattioni: Builder's name added.
- July 4, 2009: Updated by David Backlin: Added alternate name
- May 23, 2009: New photos from Gene McCluney
Related Bridges
- Molly's Landing Bridge #1 (Section of Old US 66 Bird Creek Bridge [Westbound Lane]) (Parts reused in)
- Molly's Landing Bridge #2 (Section of Old US 66 Bird Creek Bridge [Westbound Lane]) (Parts reused in)
- Rogers Landing Public Use Area Bridge #1 (Bird Creek Old US 66 Bridge [Westbound Lane]) (Parts reused in)
- Rogers Landing Public Use Area Bridge #2 (Bird Creek Old US 66 Bridge [Westbound Lane]) (Parts reused in)
Sources
- Gene McCluney - gmacfilm [at] live [dot] com
- David Backlin - us71 [at] cox [dot] net
- Rick Mattioni
- Matt Lohry
- Nathan Holth
- Michael Shulman - mikeifish [at] aol [dot] com
- Joe Sonderman
Comments
Actually these old bridges are/were on Verdigris River. I grew up around there for over 60 years. Looking closely at Google maps it shows Bird Creek turning back north and tying into Navigation Channel, the old Verdigris River channel is much wider than Bird Creek.
I have edited the info on this bridge to more accurately reflect that the bridge has been preserved in pieces and relocated to different (but very close) locations.
Went through here in Sept 2015 and indeed all the spans are sitting in various places on the NW hillside all intact.
Looking at Google Earth it appears that all the truss spans are sitting on the ground nearby - the main span and one pony span are now part of a driveway for a restaurant to the south and the other spans are sitting in a park to the north. Anyone know if that is the final resting place or are there other preservation efforts in place?
Judging by the span in the photo for that article and zooming around with street view ... the centre span was saved. The 1950s twin can be observed still in the background.
This bridge has been removed now, but one of the spans was saved by a nearby business who has placed it on the ground as an exhibit. http://www.newson6.com/story/15677414/catoosa-business-saves...
It's a crying shame that these beautiful, historic Route 66 bridges will be replaced with ugly concrete boringness. It would sure be nice to save at least the narrower original (which appears to have a superstructure in better condition than the other), put a new timber deck on it, and convert it to a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. The first photo above looks spectacular with all those truss bridges! Won't look so good after 2012.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&art...
Bridge is scheduled to be permanently closed by the end of December 2010.
This bridge was constructed by M.E. Gillioz, of Monett, MO, one of the largest building, road, dam, and bridge contractors in the state of Missouri during the first half of the 20th Century.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ok/rogers/50480000000000/
Bird Creek was once a branch of the Verdigris river. The bend in Bird Creek is where the old Verdigris river connected to Bird Creek. It was filled in when the new Kerr-McLellen navigation channel was dug out (1967) for the Port of Catoosa. The west bound lanes of Route 66 was the original 1926-1932 route. The old iron spans (1936) were deemed too narrow for today's highway regulations and had to be replaced with a wider "boring" concrete bridge. The eastbound span is installed in 1954. It may soon also be replaced as well. Prior to 1936 the original route crossed the Verdigris farther west about 300 yards. You can drive that route a short distance that is now part of a new neighborhood when you turn west just south of the current bridge. The original route crossed the current route east then turned south along a survey boundary line (N. 225th E Ave. then veered SW across from the Big Blue Whale then realigned with the westbound lane.