Detail Of West End Of Truss, Showing Truss Configuration, Looking Northeast
Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record
View photos at Library of Congress
BH Photo #128092
The main span is a 13 panel truss with a length of 193 feet, making it the among the longest single span lenticular truss remaining with Pratt truss webbing built by the Berlin Iron Bridge Co. Perhaps because of its longer length this bridge exhibits a quite strong construction, with doubled up paired eyebars for the lower chord (instead of the more common single pair), which was only found on bridges built for heavy traffic.
The approach span is a girder span at about 30 feet in length. With the last rehabilitation this span was rendered non-load bearing. However HAER documentation from 1990 shows that the span was formerly more classically designed with a floorbeam/stringer configuration. While at first glance this might appear to be a more modern addition, this span appears to be original to the structure. According to later catalogs, girder spans were the preferred method for spans shorter then 35ft, and the design does match roadway girder spans fabricated by BIBCo.
The bridge, as noted, retains a reasonably good amount of historical integrity, especially when it is considered that the bridge is still open to traffic. The bridge is a little more plain looking then other models; Decorative details common to Berlin Iron Bridges (such as cast iron finials, portal cresting, railings, and builders plaque are absent on this bridge. In this case it works though, as given its rural location its more utilitarian appearance fits in nicely. About the largest modification was the floorsystem, which is a completely modern galvanized system. However this was done tastefully, the original floorbeams are still in tact and used, and the functioning of the truss has not been affected.