Republican River Pegram Truss Bridge

I have often suspected that this bridge might be an amalgamation of spans from various locations. One of the reasons I suspected that is, as John Marvig mentions, this fridge is set on timber pylons as opposed to stone pylons.

I would not necessarily expect the railroad to mix truss types here, especially if the crossing was going to be a frequently used permanent structure. I would think that a railroad would just build three lattice trusses and be done with it unless the Pegram, with its longer span, offered an advantage.

Now that John mentions the Nebraska structure having two Pegram trusses I would not be surprised if both of those trusses ended up in Kansas. The Minneapolis Pegram being one and this Pegram being the other.

Now, we might want to think in terms of large plate girder bridges along the main line that might have been lattice trusses at one time. Unlike the main line spans, the lattice truss is on this bridge have not had their portal bracing modified. The lattice truss in Lindsborg has not had its portal bracing modified either.

I was fortunate to be able to visit this bridge on New Years. Like previous comments mention, the bridge does carry a good amount of traffic. Unfortunately, the bridge looks like it does need some significant work. The east abutment has begun to fail, as well and the east pier is in bad condition. All substructures are constructed of timber piles, a typical indication of a secondhand bridge shipped to a lightly used branch line. If this bridge is to survive for generations to come, all substructures likely need to be completely reconstructed, and a new deck should be added. Several holes were noted along the edges of the asphalt deck.

More curious is the history of this bridge. With the timber substructures and branch line status of this bridge, I have some doubts that this is the original location of the Pegram span. The other Pegram in Kansas is a 148' span, which is known to have come from this structure: http://bridgehunter.com/ne/platte/bh83549/

This structure is a 200', 9-panel span. The link above shows a 9-panel span, which I later confirmed to be 200 feet long. It seems probable that both these Pegrams may have originated from the Nebraska span. As for the end spans on this bridge, they feature designs seen in the early 20th Century. The members are more closely related to structures seen on the UP main line along I-70 in eastern Kansas, built in the first few years of the century. Older 19th century spans of this design have laced members, contrary to this bridge. It is unknown if the outer were constructed somewhere else originally, or if they are original to this spot.

Fortunately, there is a complete set of Union Pacific bridge records at the National Archives, which is likely to answer many of the questions about this structure.

I field visited this bridge today. It was carrying a surprising amount of traffic.

That link provides a great discussion of the Pegram Truss. It mentions a 148' span over the Solomon Branch near Minneapolis, KS. There is a Pegram in Minneapolis, but it crosses Pipe Creek immediately above its junction with the Solomon River. http://www.bridgehunter.com/ks/ottawa/minneapolis-rr/

An abandoned railroad line crossed the Solomon River a short distance west of Minneapolis, but Google Maps indicates that any bridge at that location has been removed http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&ie=UTF8&ll=39.118832,-97.723...

The most detailed information I have found on Pegram truss bridges is on this National Register Nomination: http://www.historicbridges.org/utah/pegram/utahnomination.pd...

Very interesting bridge and design. I was just reading an undated wikipedia article on trusses. The article says (without reference) that there are only 10 Pegram trusses still standing and that most of them are in the state of Idaho. Go figure.

I just realized that I have never uploaded pictures of the plaques that are mounted on this bridge. These photos are packed away somewhere.

I believe that there are two plaques on the main span. One identifies the builder as the Edge Moor Bridge Works and the other identifies the truss type as a Pegram truss.

Yeah, that would be great if you could upload pics of those trusses in Indiana and Ohio. It will be interesting to compare them.

I was just reading where Indiana Bridge Company referred to their "Pegram" as a "high triangular truss. I'm not sure if there were any major differences in the two, but they look very similar. I'm hoping to visit the Peterson Ford bridge sometime this week, and will post some pictures if I do.

Robert

Thanks for the info on the Pegram trusses. There are two bridges built by the Indiana Bridge Company that have a similar truss. One is in Preble County, OH (Seven Mile Creek Bridge)and was built in 1906. The Indiana bridge is the Peterson Ford Bridge over the Mississinewa River in Deleware County north of Muncie, and was built in 1902. While Ohio does call their bridge a Pegram, I have always just heard of our Indiana bridge referred to as a Polygonal-chord Warren Thru Truss. We also have a Triple Lattice (Fredricksburg Bridge) in Washington County,IN that is being moved to a park in Hamilton County, IN to be restored. These bridges were built for roadway use, where both of these truss types were more common on the railways.

Tony

I agree with Anthony that this is an impressive bridge. This bridge, the UP Crossing, the Salt Creek Bowstring Bridge, the County Line Bowstring Bridge, and the Rice Stone Arch Bridge are all located within about 5-6 miles of each other (as seen on the maps) and can conveniently be visited on one trip, road conditions permitting.

This is one of at least two Pegram trusses that I am aware of in Kansas. The other is located in Minneapolis in Ottawa county, and is pictured on this site.

WOW! This is a neat bridge! A Pegram sandwiched by a pair of triple-intersection lattices. Makes me want to go to Kansas.

An unmentioned fact on this bridge is that it was originally a Union Pacific railroad bridge until the railroad was abandoned and removed in the 1930s. It's a very interesting bridge on a blacktop road and is also relatively close to KS Hwy 9.