Anthony Dillon

There are a few different stories as to why the West span of the covered bridge was replaced with an open iron span. The one that I have heard the most, and that makes sense to me, is that travelers crossing the bridge could not see the approaching trains. I do know that the wrought iron span was a product of the Indianapolis Bridge Company, and was built no later than 1885. Indianapolis Bridge was the short lived predecessor to the Indiana Bridge Company, and was in business from 1883-1885.

Another note,this concerning the arson of the bridge. The man killed was the Assistant Fire Chief, who was pinned under a fallen beam and drowned. Apparently one of the men responsible for the fire was a good friend of this man, and after having heard what happened returned to the scene to help.

WOW!.....what a beauty!

Dawn

More than likely the names listed were those of the county commissioners, or other elected officials at that time. Assuming the 1911 date given here is correct, you should check the county records at that time to see if your relative is listed. Rarely did the bridge fabricating firms list more than the company name itself.

Thank you Jim! It is indeed a solid little bridge that for all intense purposes could still be open. There is a new bridge 1/4 mile to the East that replaced another truss bridge. I think the county just decided it wasn't needed after the new span was built. Sounds like this rare New Castle span will be moved to the Pioneer Engineers grounds to join the Homer Covered Bridge.

Major work has been completed on the Moscow Covered Bridge. It is scheduled to be painted next week and the scrolls still need to be installed. And a lot of clean up work to finish. Still scheduled for rededication on September 25th.

I confirmed yesterday with the Rush County Highway Engineer that this is indeed part of the SR44 Sugar Creek Bridge from Shelby County. He said that they have parts of it stored in about 3 different locations.

Hmmmmm.........now wouldn't that historic truss bridge have made a DANDY pedestrian bridge?!?! NAAAAAH........this is Pennsylvania.......and we simply CAN'T have that!!! (Am I dripping enough sarcasm here?)........

Apparently the Keystone State just can't get enough of these................

Plochman's Mustard Yellow would be my choice!

Would stand out nicely....not to mention they make the best mustard!!

Picture #15 appears to be of the Dunbar Bridge, as the Oakalla Bridge is a single span and has no pier.

One of my personal favorites

It is interesting!

I figured you had to line your wheels up......and hope for the best! That's why they call it the rugged Northwest!!

Appears to be a 2-lane joke at that!

Plaques were a very important piece of advertising for a bridge firm. If a firm was proud of it's work, then naturally they would adorn it with the company name in hopes of garnering future business. So it would make sense to design something that catches the eye. Some of the 1870-1880 spans were almost garish with their embellishments. But a good plaque design will always draw attention, even without cresting and finials and all the other doodads.

I really don't think there was any 3rd party involved in the spans with New Castle ties for a couple reasons. T.J. Burk was the mastermind behind both the New Castle Bridge Co. and the Pan American Bridge Co. His background was as a blacksmith and he would have been skilled with the processes necessary to cast plaques. Also if you look closely at some of their plaque (and with those of other builders) the type-setting is often crooked and proper capitalization and punctuation might be void. I have seen more than one Pan Am plaque where New Castle is set as Newcastle. This makes me more confident that the plaques are cast in-house and not by a third party, whom it would seem should be less likely to make such errors.

Another factor is that of sub-letting work to another firm. Indiana Bridge Company was known to sell spans to many of it's competitors. Pan American fabricated for Austin Brothers and Empire until they built their own facitities, and also had ties to the Converse Bridge Company. I have seen pictures of several Empire spans in Kentucky that have plaques identical to Pan Am's. And the Jewettsport Ford Bridge credited to the Lafayette Engineering Company, was likely fabricated by Central States as it displays plaques identical to those of that firm. Lafayette Engineering was a designer and erector, but had no fabricating plant of their own. Central States was known to fabricate for them.

I'm sure every case differs from one to another, but it is always fascinating to ponder the possibilities.........

We had the same thing here in Indiana Robert.........

1st photo- Indiana Bridge Company

2nd photo- New Castle Bridge Company

3rd photo- Central States Bridge Company

4th photo- Pan American Bridge Company

The last 3 companies all had ties to New Castle. New Castle Bridge would move to Indianapolis and later change it's name to Central States. The Pan American Bridge Co. was formed by those who didn't want the former company to leave New Castle.

Glad to help out Robert!

I was bored and had my magnifying glass out!!.....lol