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Burt Dickman's Red Bridge

De Kalb County, Indiana

Photos 

Photo taken by Tony Dillon in June 2019

Enlarge

BH Photo #502098

Map 

Description 

One of two pony truss spans saved by Mr. Dickman and moved to his property on the South edge of Auburn. I visited in June of 2019 and was sad to hear that he had passed away several months earlier. His wife was very gracious and allowed me to drive around and visit both bridges. She said that unfortunately she didn't know many details and wished he was still around because he loved to talk about them. I hesitated on posting them out of respect for her privacy, but sadly I learned that she had passed as well. I feel like now is the right time to honor the memory of Mr. Dickman by sharing these spans for other bridge enthusiasts to enjoy. I don't know what the status is with the property but would ask that any visitors be respectful as it is private.

Mrs. Dickman didn't know the exact origin of this bridge, but she believed that her husband rescued it from a junkyard. It features verticals that are "solid" without any lacing. The looped connector from the vertical to the pin is very unusual.

Facts 

Overview
Pratt pony truss bridge over Lake outlet to Cedar Creek on Private drive
Location
Auburn, De Kalb County, Indiana
Status
Open to authorized vehicles only
Builder
- Toledo Bridge Co. of Toledo, Ohio (Possible Fabricator) [also known as Smith Bridge Co.]
Design
4-panel, pinned Pratt pony truss
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.34710, -85.06018   (decimal degrees)
41°20'50" N, 85°03'37" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/662286/4579105 (zone/easting/northing)
Inventory number
BH 93801 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Auburn, Indiana (8)
De Kalb County, Indiana (31)
Indiana (5,097)
Open to authorized vehicles (354)
Owned privately (1,927)
Pony truss (17,008)
 Pratt pony truss (3,949)
Pratt truss (10,291)
Smith Bridge Co. (111)
Toledo Bridge Co. (46)
Truss (35,420)

Update Log 

  • July 29, 2021: Updated by Nathan Holth: Corrected builder syntax.
  • July 29, 2021: New photos from Tony Dillon

Sources 

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