Rating:
5 votes

Woodruff Bridge

Pulaski County, Indiana

Photos 

Overview

Photo taken July 2006 by Tom Hall

BH Photo #102956

Map 

Street View 

Description 

It appears likely that the Wrought Iron Bridge Company built this as a 2 span bridge around 1890. Sometime around 1910 the Northern span was probably damaged or lost to flooding and was replaced by the Warren truss.

Historic image shows a bowstring truss was once paired with the older Pratt truss.

Facts 

Overview
Two-span through truss bridge over Tippecanoe River on Road 75 East, south of Winamac
Location
Pulaski County, Indiana
Status
Closed to all traffic with most of deck gone
History
Built ca. 1890
Builders
- Winamac Bridge Co. (Possible fabricator-North span)
- Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio (South span)
Design
Mixed trusses consist of a Pratt through truss and a Warren through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 127.9 ft.
Total length: 259.7 ft.
Deck width: 14.4 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.5 ft.
Recognition
Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Also called
Wasson's Ford Bridge
County Bridge #196
75E Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.02390, -86.58672   (decimal degrees)
41°01'26" N, 86°35'12" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/534745/4541492 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Winamac
Inventory numbers
INNBI 6600106 (Indiana bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 16899 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of September 2016)
Sufficiency rating: 17 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

19th Century (9,040)
Abandoned (3,957)
Built during 1890s (3,278)
Have street view (29,877)
Indiana (5,168)
NR-eligible (4,124)
One-lane traffic (7,993)
Owned by county (21,712)
Pratt through truss (6,227)
 Pratt truss (10,534)
Pulaski County, Indiana (52)
Span length 125-175 feet (4,494)
Through truss (17,819)
Tippecanoe River (26)
Total length 250-500 feet (5,608)
Truss (36,716)
Winamac Bridge Co. (3)
Wrought Iron Bridge Co. (456)

Update Log 

  • October 3, 2020: New photos from Mike Daffron
  • May 3, 2020: New Street View added by Jeff Wieland
  • May 2, 2020: New photo from Tony Dillon
  • March 18, 2016: New photo from Art Suckewer
  • February 26, 2010: Updated by Anthony Dillon: Added builder and description.
  • September 15, 2006: Posted corrected photo from Tom Hall

Sources 

  • Tom Hall - thomas [dot] hall [at] ffni [dot] com
  • Tony Dillon - spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com
  • Art Suckewer - Asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com
  • Jeff Wieland
  • Mike Daffron - daffmikron [at] gmail [dot] com
Post a comment here

Comments 

Woodruff Bridge
Posted October 5, 2020, by Tony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

I was wondering that myself Art. A little out of my normal range and it would take some digging to possibly uncover the whole story. Anything is certainly possible as we have found in many other cases.

Woodruff Bridge
Posted October 4, 2020, by Art S. (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)

Tony,

What is your confidence that it had bowstrings as its original configuration. The pic with the Pratt and bowstring has what looks like a light Pratt but I think it may be the existing Pratt (note the horizontal strap at mid height).

Could it be that it started as a two span Pratt and when one span washed out, they temporarily put in the bowstring or did it start with bowstrings then just have spans swapped one at a time until today?

Thoughts?

Art S.

Woodruff Bridge
Posted October 3, 2020, by Tony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

The Woodruff name goes back to the bowstring truss and the original landowner I do believe. Wasson may have been the LO when the Warren truss replaced the bowstring.

Woodruff Bridge
Posted October 3, 2020, by Mike Daffron (daffmikron [at] gmail [dot] com)

Visited this bridge 10-3-20, too early in the fall, too late in the day. Also, too locked up. When was the name changed from Wasson Ford? I noted, while trying to find a southern entry, there was a cemetery just off 35 called Wasson Cemetery.