N. 50th Street Menomonee River Bridge

Photos 

The East Side

Photo taken by J.R. Manning in July 2008

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Map 

There IS a bridge at this location 

UPDATE!

In March, 2008, I was unable to locate this bridge and wrote the following:

I have no idea what bridge this listing references. There is no 50th Street bridge crossing the Menomonee River. 50th Street runs north of State Street, but not south of State Street. Private property borders the north edge of the river at 5000 West.

There is a plate girder bridge at 45th Street, just to the east.

A little farther west, about 6100 West, just north of Honey Creek Parkway, there are abutments and piers of a missing bridge. A local resident says this may have been a pedestrian walkway.

On July 5, 2008, I found the bridge. It is well hidden behind private property and even then, is well hidden by overgrowth of brush in the area.

I cannot even begin to imagine why this one lane bridge was built. The south end provides access to Doyne Park property, much more easily accessable from Wells Street. There does not appear to be any developed walking or nature trail, nor can I understand why anyone on a nature trail would need access to an auto parts warehouse.

It almost appears to have been a temporary bridge that was installed, used and forgotten.

If I ever find out what purpose this odd structure served, I will tell you here.

Facts 

Overview

Pony truss bridge over Menomonee River on N. 50th Street in Milwaukee

Location

Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

Status

FOUND! This elusive bridge is well hidden but extant behind private property.

History

Built 1976

Design

Bailey pony truss

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 69.9 ft.
Total length: 70.9 ft.
Deck width: 12.8 ft.

Approximate latitude, longitude

+43.04300, -87.97660   (decimal degrees)
43°02'35" N, 87°58'36" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

16/420454/4766052 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Milwaukee

Inventory number

BH 34857 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection (as of 06/2006)

Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 17.0 (out of 100)

Average daily traffic (as of 2005)

1

Categories 

Update Log 

• July 5, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning
• March 23, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning: Updated listing
• March 16, 2008: Essay added by J.R. Manning

Sources 

• J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net

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