Chambers Ford Bridge
Description
In April 1890 the Tama County Board of Supervisors received a petition from S. Wyman and other citizens of Salt Creek Township for a permanent bridge over the Iowa River southeast of Chelsea. The supervisors visited the proposed site, known locally as the Chambers Ford, the following month. They agreed to construct an iron bridge at this point if the citizens would "procure a right-of-way for said bridge and build all necessary trestle work on said right-of-way and all approaches to said bridge." The County Auditor subsequently solicited bids for the bridge's erection, and on July 11th a contract was let to the Clinton Bridge and Iron Works of Clinton, Iowa, for a single-span, pin-connected Pratt truss. Apparently completed later that year, the Chambers Ford Bridge functioned in place with only maintenance-related repairs for ten years. By the turn of the century, however, the original timber trestle approach that the local citizens had built on one end had deteriorated beyond the point of repair. In September 1902 the board of supervisors inspected the bridge and met with representatives of bridge firms at nearby Belle Plaine. A contract for the repair work, which included the erection of a new Lackawanna and Jones and Laughlin, King erected the new span during the fall and winter of 1902-03. Work was completed by April 1903, whereupon the county issued a warrant to King in the amount of $3,987. Since that time, the two-span structure has carried vehicular traffic in essentially unaltered condition. The south span is part of the original 1890 structure built by the Clinton Bridge and Iron Works, while to the north is the span built by the George E. King Bridge Company in 1903. With virtually all of the in-state and national bridge companies promoting it, the pin-connected Pratt through truss was the steel bridge of choice for medium-scale crossings in Iowa in the late 19th century. Thousands of such spans were erected on the state's road system during this period of intense bridge construction activity, and today they remain the most populous structural type remaining from the 19th century. The Chambers Ford Bridge is distinguished among these for its staged construction, two-span configuration and well-preserved physical state [adapted from Fraser 1990].Facts
- Overview
- Pratt through truss bridge over Iowa River on 380th Street
- Location
- Tama County, Iowa
- Status
- Closed to all traffic with portions of the deck damaged
- Future prospects
- Slated for demolition and replacement. New bridge will be constructed alongside the HB, with the removal of the bridge to follow.....
- History
- Built 1890 & 1903; rehabilitated 1938
- Builders
- - Clinton Bridge & Iron Works of Clinton, Iowa (1890 South span)
- George E. King Bridge Co. of Des Moines, Iowa (1903 North span)
- Design
- Two pinned Pratt through trusses
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 159.1 ft.
Total length: 345.2 ft.
Deck width: 15.1 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 12.6 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 1998
- Also called
- Iowa River Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +41.88390, -92.33544 (decimal degrees)
41°53'02" N, 92°20'08" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/555137/4637099 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Belle Plaine
- Land survey
- T. 82 N., R. 13 W., Sec. 26
- Average daily traffic (as of 2013)
- 50
- Inventory numbers
- IA 316660 (Iowa bridge number)
NRHP 98000482 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 14467 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of January 2015)
- View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- May 27, 2017: New photo from Ray Kasal
- August 8, 2016: Updated by Jason Smith: This bridge is doomed. To be replaced by a new structure and removed once the new bridge opens
- April 17, 2014: New photos from James Baughn
- April 16, 2014: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added details about bridge doom/availability.
- August 26, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Doomed
- June 11, 2013: New photo from Dave King
- February 23, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Clinton Bridge & Iron Works"
- September 18, 2011: Updated by Anthony Dillon: added builder
- September 18, 2011: New photos from Quinn Phelan
- July 26, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Added description
- June 30, 2010: Updated by Anthony Dillon: Changed to common name
- February 21, 2009: New photo from Ray Kasal
- February 20, 2009: New photo from Ray Kasal
Sources
- Ray Kasal - raykasal [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Luke
- Quinn Phelan - qphelan [at] earthlink [dot] net
- Nathan Holth
- Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
Comments
Damn shame.
There are some lessons for other states from some states struggling for preservation. I would suggest that the attached MOA gives NOTHING to the preservationist and IT"S JUST WRONG!.
I am sharing here because what we do at Workin' Bridges can be GREAT like the bridge park we are working on. and then there is this. time for a change in Iowa.
Contract let date anticipated is September 15, 2015. County is putting a time limit of the end of June for proposals for reuse.
Tama BROS-C086(84)--5F-86 C086 380th St.: between W Ave. and X Ave, over Iowa River. Bridge Replacement - Other 0.20 mi
With help from Nathan and Nels we put together this letter to all participants and then a few more. Trying to get the word out to all federal agencies that they must do more to look at preservation options.
Article about interest:
http://www.tamatoledonews.com/page/content.detail/id/547496/...
I was able to add some thoughts on preservation to the supervisors...the engineers were not keen to show their work when discussing costs to bypass or even knowing how much a move or costs of preservation might be.
This would be a tough save. Expensive pick. But at least the supervisors now have more info.
More on the bridge for sale, including a reference to this site!:
http://iowahighwayends.net/blog/2014/04/anyone-want-to-buy-a...
On April 16, 2014; bridge was advertised as needing a new home.
See: http://www.tamatoledonews.com/page/content.detail/id/547218/...
This bridge is going to be replaced per Tama County Engineer. He didn't have a date set.
is it haunted? my uncle was talking to someone that was out there taking a bunch of pictures at night and caught a photo of a woman on the bridge.
Yes chambers bridge runs east and west.We had alot of good times fishing off that bridge.
me and my grandpa have fished off this bridge a million times. correct me if im wrong but isn't that on the west end looking east rather than south to north?
Lots of memories made out at Chambers Bridge! We miss you Jesse James!
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ia/tama/chambers-ford/
2 Million for a 50 Car a day bridge... Makes sense to me!