Rating:
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North Bosque River Bridge

Bosque County, Texas

Photos 

Photo taken by Dave Shaffer

BH Photo #209267

Map 

Description 

According to the state historical marker, ''Built in 1884 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, at a cost of $6,465, this bridge spans 150 feet across the North Bosque River. This type of bridge, called a Whipple truss, was named for its designer. One of the few remaining Whipple truss bridges in the state, it opened up travel routes from the south and west to the north and east. Withstanding many floods, the bridge provided an important transportation connection for Bosque County residents from 1884 to 1941 when traffic was routed west of the Bosque River to the newly constructed Highway 6. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1996.'' The Warren approach spans were added at a later date, possibly in 1941. They replaced either wood or iron stringer approach spans.

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over North Bosque River on CR 3112 in Clifton
Location
Bosque County, Texas
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1884
Builder
- Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio
Design
Whipple Through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 148.0 ft.
Total length: 371.1 ft.
Deck width: 17.1 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 13.2 ft.
Recognition
Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude
+31.79333, -97.57194   (decimal degrees)
31°47'36" N, 97°34'19" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
14/635195/3518416 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Clifton
Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
570
Inventory numbers
TXNBI 090180AA0333001 (Texas bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 32785 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of May 2016)
Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 28.9 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

19th Century (6,800)
Bosque County, Texas (15)
Bridgemapper.com (1,326)
Built 1884 (158)
Built during 1880s (1,817)
NR-eligible (4,000)
One-lane traffic (7,532)
Open (38,338)
Owned by county (19,726)
 Span length 125-175 feet (3,961)
Structurally deficient (16,983)
Texas (2,360)
Through truss (13,848)
Total length 250-500 feet (4,838)
Truss (30,947)
Whipple truss (321)
Wrought Iron Bridge Co. (316)

Update Log 

  • August 19, 2011: Updated by aaron leibold: According to the state historical marker

Sources 

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Comments 

North Bosque River Bridge
Posted March 12, 2018, by Art S. (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)

Being retired, replaced and 'monumented' meaning the deck and approaches removed and the remains stabilized:

https://www.news-journal.com/news/state/bosque-county-histor...

North Bosque River Bridge
Posted July 24, 2017, by Waco Tribune-Herald (wemmons [at] wacotrib [dot] com)

We ran a piece with nice photos this weekend on the bridge: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/roads/a-bridge-too-close-a-hist...

Work began this month on a modern steel-and-concrete bridge about 10 feet away that will soon replace the last functioning Whipple truss bridge in Texas.

North Bosque River Bridge
Posted April 21, 2017, by Tony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Well, at least it's in Texas... Better odds that it will be preserved than not!

North Bosque River Bridge
Posted April 21, 2017, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Possibly doomed:

http://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Clifton--Historic-bridge-fa...

North Bosque River Bridge
Posted November 7, 2008, by Anthony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Yes.......This is a Whipple Truss. Built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company in 1884.

North Bosque River Bridge
Posted November 7, 2008, by Dave Shaffer (dave [at] davesfotowerks [dot] com)

Would this be the Whipple Truss Bridge? Both Google Maps and Google Earth are poorly detailed in this area. Other sites list the road as CR 3305.