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Tivoli Island Bridge

Jefferson County, Wisconsin

Photos 

General View Of Bridge, Looking South

The Tivoli Island Bridge was part of a four span bridge across the Crawfish River in Milford, Wisconsin. When it was replaced, two of the spans came here, one reportedly went to Fort Atkinson and the whereabouts of the fourth span are lost to history.

Photo taken by Martin Stupich, June 20, 1987, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #120414

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Bowstring pony truss bridge over Rock River on Pedestrian Walkway in Watertown
Location
Watertown, Jefferson County, Wisconsin
History
Built 1877 over Crawfish River in Milford; Moved to Watertown 1906
Builder
- King Bridge Co. of Cleveland, Ohio
Design
"In 1866, Zenas King from Ohio received a patent for an innovative tubular iron-arch design. Increasing the sectional area of the top chord toward the ends of the arch, he claimed, strengthened the bridge. Built c. 1877, the Tivoli Island Bridge incorporated this design principle. The King Iron & Bridge Manufacturing Company in Cleveland, Ohio, popularized the tubular iron-arch by numerous examples throughout the United States.

"Apparently, the Tivoli Island Bridge was originally part of a four-span structure over the Crawfish River in the village of Milford. In 1906, two Watertown residents arranged to have the two-span section moved to its present location at Tivoli Island. In Wisconsin, the bridge is one of only seven remaining bowstrings and the last example of a tubular arch design."
--Diane Kromm, Wisconsin Historic Bridge Recording Project, July 1987

Dimensions
Length of largest span: 55.8 ft.
Total length: 105.8 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+43.18940, -88.70650   (decimal degrees)
43°11'22" N, 88°42'23" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/361332/4783261 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Watertown
Inventory number
BH 37110 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (6,416)
Bowstring pony truss (214)
Bowstring truss (416)
Built 1877 (81)
Built during 1870s (920)
Jefferson County, Wisconsin (25)
King Bridge Co. (301)
Open to pedestrians (3,656)
 Owned by city (4,677)
Pony truss (15,191)
Rock River (Wisconsin-Illinois) (81)
Span length 50-75 feet (9,169)
Total length 100-125 feet (4,769)
Truss (29,883)
Watertown, Wisconsin (11)
Wisconsin (1,284)

Update Log 

  • June 5, 2016: New photo from Art Suckewer
  • November 12, 2010: New photos from Jason Smith
  • November 17, 2009: Updated by J.R. Manning: Updated Status
  • August 17, 2008: New photos from J.R. Manning
  • August 9, 2008: Added by J.R. Manning

Sources 

  • J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
  • HAER WI-21 - Tivoli Island Bridge, Spanning Rock River Channel from mainland to west side of Tivoli Island (moved from Milwaukee), Watertown, Jefferson County, WI
  • Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
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Comments 

Tivoli Island Bridge
Posted November 12, 2010, by Robert Thompson

Good catch! I was going to document this one, but you beat me to it. Hope to see more from you.

Tivoli Island Bridge
Posted June 19, 2009, by J.R. Manning (thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net)

My guess is, and I suspect, the running boards allow the parks people to take maintenance motor vehicles across the bridge to the island.

Tivoli Island Bridge
Posted June 19, 2009, by Gene McCluney (mccluney [at] sbcglobal [dot] net)

Why does a bridge that is a pedestrian walkway have running boards?