Rating:
4 votes

Bridgeport Bridge

Lee County, Iowa, and Des Moines County, Iowa

Photos 

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #123486

Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview
Pennsylvania through truss bridge over Skunk River on Old Quarry Road
Location
Denmark, Lee County, Iowa, and Des Moines County, Iowa
Status
Closed to all traffic
History
Built 1904, Closed 1984
Builders
- Carnegie Steel Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Metal Fabricator)
- Clinton Bridge & Iron Works of Clinton, Iowa
Design
Pennsylvania through truss

"The main span of this bridge may be the longest pinned truss remaining in Iowa and serves as a well-preserved example of a Pratt truss subtype - the Pennsylvania truss. The bridge is significant for its role in the development of regional transportation in the Lee and Des Moines county area.

"This document was prepared as part of the Iowa Historic Bridges Recording Project performed durng the Summer of 1995 by the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). The project was sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT). Preliminary research on this bridge was performed by Clayton B. Fraser of Fraserdesign, Loveland, CO."

Historian: Robert W. Jackson, August 1995
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Dimensions
Length of largest span: 238.0 ft.
Total length: 293.0 ft.
Deck width: 15.1 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 15.0 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.79036, -91.36417   (decimal degrees)
40°47'25" N, 91°21'51" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/638013/4516772 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Danville
Land survey
T. 69 N., R. 4 W.
Inventory numbers
NRHP 98000533 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
IA 219350 (Iowa bridge number)
BH 13816 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Built 1904 (589)
Built during 1900s (7,632)
Carnegie Steel Co. (49)
Clinton Bridge & Iron Works (76)
Closed (2,758)
Denmark, Iowa (1)
Des Moines County, Iowa (74)
Have street view (28,893)
Historic Bridge Weekend 2013 (145)
Iowa (6,791)
 Lee County, Iowa (59)
NR-listed (3,013)
Owned by county (21,607)
Pennsylvania truss (578)
Pin-connected (4,688)
Skunk River (33)
Span length 175-250 feet (2,058)
Through truss (16,751)
Total length 250-500 feet (5,506)
Truss (35,423)

Update Log 

  • November 14, 2021: New photos from Chris Gonnerman
  • October 22, 2013: New Street View added by Luke Harden
  • October 22, 2013: New photo from Diane Martin
  • September 10, 2008: New photos from J.R. Manning

Sources 

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Comments 

Bridgeport Bridge
Posted October 6, 2007, by Ken Martin (kmartin537 [at] surewest [dot] net)

Visited bridge Sep. '07. Side view from new bridge just upriver, afternoon shot would be better.