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Flint River Bridge

Des Moines County, Iowa

Photo 

© Iowa Department of Transportation

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BH Photo #270767

Map 

Description 

Located northwest of Burlington in Franklin Township, thr short-span through truss Flint River Bridge carries 155th Street, an unpaved county road, over the Flint River. It is comprised of a single 100-foot, pinned Pratt span, supported by stone masonry abutments. In the summer of 1883 a petition sponsored by H. Schilb and several other local residents was received by the Des Moines County supervisors for the erection of a permanent bridge over the Flint River. Reviewing the petition favorably, the county solicited competitive construction bids for the project and subsequently contracted with Daniels and Webster to erect a new wrought iron truss. Working in a rural section of central Des Moines County, the firm completed the new span by December for $1,710. The Flint River Bridge, retaining a high degree of structural integrity, continues to carry intermittent traffic in its rural setting. Virtually all of Iowa's in-state bridge contractors relied heavily on pinned Pratt construction for roadway trusses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So much so, in fact, that Pratts outnumbered all other types of bridges combined in the state during this period. Numerous pinned Pratt through trusses remain in use in Iowa today, of which the Flint River Bridge is a well-preserved, relatively early example [adapted from Crow-Dolby and Fraser 1992].

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over Flint River on 155th Street
Location
Des Moines County, Iowa
Status
Removed but not replaced
History
Built 1883; Removed 2008-2009; Removed from NRHP 10-15-14
Builder
- Daniel & Webster of Garden Grove, Iowa
Design
Pinned Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 100.0 ft.
Total length: 102.0 ft.
Deck width: 15.4 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.1 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.90502, -91.22289   (decimal degrees)
40°54'18" N, 91°13'22" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/649675/4529733 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Sperry
Land survey
T. 71 N., R. 3 W.
Inventory numbers
NRHP 98000792 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
IA 143745 (Iowa bridge number)
BH 13392 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (8,384)
7-panel truss (470)
Built 1883 (175)
Built during 1880s (2,171)
Daniel & Webster (2)
Des Moines County, Iowa (74)
Flint River (Iowa) (5)
Formerly NR-listed (149)
Iowa (6,793)
Lost (28,492)
 Lost 2009 (358)
Lost during 2000s (4,406)
Owned by county (21,611)
Pratt through truss (6,057)
Pratt truss (10,299)
Span length 100-125 feet (4,554)
Through truss (16,794)
Total length 100-125 feet (5,381)
Truss (35,471)
Wooden deck (6,161)

Update Log 

  • November 23, 2014: Updated by Dave King: Updated NRHP status: Removed 10-15-14
  • November 20, 2013: New photo from Luke Harden
  • November 17, 2012: Updated by Chris Gonnerman: Bridge has been removed.
  • August 28, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added plausible removal date
  • June 12, 2011: New photo from Luke Harden

Sources 

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Comments 

Flint River Bridge
Posted August 27, 2012, by Matt Lohry

Historic Google Earth imagery indicates it was removed sometime in late 2008 or early 2009.

Flint River Bridge
Posted August 27, 2012, by Don Morrison

Old imagery from Bing bird's eye view still shows this bridge, but Bing aerial and Google don't show it.