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McMillin Bridge

Pierce County, Washington
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Photos 

North Portal Looking SE

Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

Map 

Street Views 

Facts 

Overview
Concrete truss bridge over Puyallup River on WA 162 in McMillin
Location
McMillin, Pierce County, Washington
Status
Open to pedestrians only
History
Built 1934. Bypassed by a new vehicular bridge and left in place in 2015.
Builders
- Dolph Jones of Tacoma, Washington (Contractor)
- Homer Hadley of Seattle, Washington (Conceptual Designer)
- W.H. Witt Co. of Seattle, Washington (Consulting Design Firm)
Design
This is a rare example of a reinforced-concrete through truss bridge. The form of its members and details are unique. At the time of its construction it was thought to be the longest concrete truss or beam span in the country. It has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The McMillan Bridge was built by Pierce County in 1934. It replaced a steel truss span of the same name and location, damaged by flooding of the Puyallup River. Similar to its predecessor, the new bridge employed a through-truss type, enabling it to accommodate the largest practical waterway. This required its width and length to increase.
(HAER WASH,27-MCMIL,1-)
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 170.0 ft.
Total length: 210.0 ft.
Deck width: 22.0 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1982
Also called
Puyallup River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+47.12974, -122.23593   (decimal degrees)
47°07'47" N, 122°14'09" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
10/557948/5219864 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Sumner
Inventory numbers
000000JD0000000
NRHP 82004275 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 42418 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 04/2013)
Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 40.5 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2012)
18,140

Categories 

10-panel truss (144)
Built 1934 (679)
Built during 1930s (10,429)
Bypassed (148)
Concrete truss (3)
Dolph Jones (1)
Functionally obsolete (7,893)
HAER documented (1,096)
Have street view (21,615)
Homer Hadley (7)
McMillin, Washington (2)
NR-listed (2,839)
Open to pedestrians (3,480)
 Owned by state (13,325)
Parker through truss (1,154)
Parker truss (1,505)
Pierce County, Washington (105)
Puyallup River (15)
Savable (36)
Span length 125-175 feet (3,716)
TRUSS Award 2011 (12)
Through truss (12,775)
Total length 175-250 feet (3,695)
Truss (29,238)
W.H. Witt Co. (3)
Washington (1,144)

Update Log 

  • September 23, 2016: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
  • October 26, 2015: Updated by Nathan Holth: Bridge has been bypassed.
  • December 10, 2014: Updated by Nathan Holth: No longer doomed.
  • December 14, 2010: New photos from Nathan Holth
  • May 19, 2009: Updated by Michael Goff
  • April 21, 2009: Added by Michael Goff

Sources 

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Comments 

McMillin Bridge
Posted December 12, 2014, by James Baughn (webmaster [at] bridgehunter [dot] com)

I think this is considered a through truss because the two sidewalks go through the trusses. It's definitely an oddity that is hard to classify, though.

Massachusetts does have a bridge with a somewhat similar configuration with steel trusses:

http://bridgehunter.com/ma/franklin/eleventh-street/

McMillin Bridge
Posted December 12, 2014, by Zachary S

And half the time the NBI lists pony or through trusses as deck trusses or vice versa, so really, the NBI data is often... not especially helpful in determining the bridge type.

McMillin Bridge
Posted December 12, 2014, by Mike Goff (michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Barry,

A pony truss is technically just a sub-category of through truss. So, either one it technically correct. In the NBI Coding Guide for bridge inspection there isn't even an option for pony truss, they are just lumped in with the through trusses. So in conclusion it is not all that uncommon to see a pony truss listed as a through truss since all the data is based off the NBI.

I hope that makes it as clear as mud.

Have a good day,

MG

McMillin Bridge
Posted December 11, 2014, by Barry (bllauver [at] toad [dot] net)

Not argumentative. I really want to know. How is this through truss when there are no lateral braces or portal braces over the roadway?

McMillin Bridge
Posted April 4, 2014, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

This bridge is the focus bridge on the Historic Bridge Foundation's brand new Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/historicbridgefoundation

McMillin Bridge
Posted February 15, 2011, by Michael Goff (michael [dot] goff [at] odot [dot] state [dot] or [dot] us)

WSDOT is asking for public input on the future of the McMillin Bridge. The McMillin Bridge is a unique concrete through truss, and the only one to my knowledge of this scale in the United States.

WSDOT is considering leaving the bridge in place for historic purposes but they are also considering removing the structure so input is valuable to the process.

If you believe this is a historic structure worth preserving I encourage you to email or call the project office.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2010/11/SR+162+PRB+design+input...