Breeden's Bridge
Photos
Overview
Breeden's Bridge is an unusual bridge with an unusual story. The bridge is a mixmatched bridge. It consists of two different type of truss spans, which were made in different years, and also, both spans originated from two different locations. The spans were relocated to their present location in 1959. The Parker Truss span is 400' long and was constructed in 1900. The Pratt Truss span was constructed in 1883 and is reported to be the oldest of its type in Indiana. The bridge sits in O'Bannon Woods State Park about three miles south of Leavenworth, IN on an old logging road just off to the east of IN HWY 62. The future of this bridge is bright. It is scheduled to be rehabilitated into a pedestrian bridge in the near future.
Photo taken by James McCray in December 2007
BH Photo #111719
Facts
- Overview
- Parker through truss bridge over Blue River on CR 650S, an old logging trail over the Blue River in O'Bannon Woods State Park east of IN 62 about three miles south of Leavenworth, IN
- Location
- Harrison County, Indiana, and Crawford County, Indiana
- Status
- Closed to all traffic
- History
- Bridge reportedly relocated to its present location in 1959. Parker Truss span built in 1900 and the Pratt Truss span built in 1883. Breeden's Bridge is scheduled to be rehabilitated and retrofitted for use as a pedestrian bridge.
- Builders
- - Canton Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio (Parker truss)
- Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio (Pratt truss)
- Design
- Main span: Parker through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 125.3 ft.
Total length: 269.9 ft.
Deck width: 11.8 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 13.0 ft.
- Recognition
- Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
- Also called
- Cole's Ford Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +38.19757, -86.30915 (decimal degrees)
38°11'51" N, 86°18'33" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/560492/4227961 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Leavenworth
- Inventory numbers
- INNBI 1300032 (Indiana bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 36259 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of October 2013)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Imminent Failure (1 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 18 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- October 4, 2021: New photo from Jenise Stewart
- August 21, 2021: New photos from Garrett DiDomizio
- September 1, 2018: New photos from Carl Crasher
- October 14, 2017: New photos from Mike Daffron
- March 5, 2010: Updated by J.P.: updated builder
- February 12, 2009: Updated by James McCray: updated future prospects
- July 13, 2008: Updated by James McCray: "Updated gps coordinates"
- February 11, 2008: Added by James McCray
Sources
- James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
- J.P. - wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Mike Daffron - daffmikron [at] gmail [dot] com
- Garrett DiDomizio - garrettdidomizio [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
Sad to see the two spans rotting away.
Just visited this fella Saturday and it looks like they have forgot to restore it. Come on, people! Let's get our poop in a group!! (Still, quite a breathtaking sight!)
One of the bigger mysteries has been solved. The span was officially known as Cole's Ford Bridge and was completed on December 7, 1871 as a wrought iron tubular arch by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The span was demolished or severely damaged in the flood of 1883 and a bid was let to the Wrought Iron Bridge Company for a Parker and two Pratt truss spans.
The bridge was bypassed in 1938 when a relocated IN 62/US 460 was completed, and the span was abandoned in or around 1984. The deck was removed by 1987.
More can be found at my site: http://bridgestunnels.com/bridges/indiana/precinct-school-ro...
The bridge is also called Cole's Ford Bridge per my conversation with Richard Eastwick (Crawford County historian) in 2009.
this bridge is also the 650south bridge that is listed on the page. Discovered this on the SHAARD website. https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/welcome.html this the link to the main page.
There's something amiss with the story on this bridge. The massive cut stone abutments that support the structure are pre-1900. They would not have been built in 1959. Perhaps the Pratt span (which would have been built on stone) was actually built at this location, with maybe a larger Whipple truss that was lost. Or at least there was another structure there that was replaced with these two spans for some reason. I just know that the abutments pre-date the timeline given. If anyone knows more on this story...please comment. THANKS
My Grandparents lived on the Crawford county side of this bridge when I was growing up. I am enclosing a picture of my mother and a friend around 1937. It is looking from the Crawford county side toward the Harrison county side. You don't have to post it but thought you may like to see it.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/in/harrison/bh36259/
I was at the bridge this afternoon, Friday, Sept., 24, 2021. Water high on the big blue n bridge still rotting away.
Does anyone know if there really are still plans to do something restorative to this historical bridge??
Beautiful spot… also does anyone know how/where to access on other side of river… south side? I heard voices talking as I was about to leave.