Rating:
No votes cast

Bridge Street Bridge

Kent County, Michigan

Photos 

General View Northeast, South Side From West Bank

Photo by Ernie Czetli, December 1987, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #121213

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Lost Arch bridge over Grand River on Bridge Street in Grand Rapids
Location
Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan
Status
Replaced by new bridge
History
Built 1903-04; Replaced 1988
Builder
- Joseph P. Rusche
Design
"The Bridge Street Bridge is a rare example of a reinforced concrete arch, earth-filled bridge, and one of great size, measuring 468 feet long overall. This bridge is the second largest known surviving example of this design in Michigan. This was one of the earliest large reinforced concrete arch, earth-filled bridges built in the United States and received considerable attention in the national engineering literature. It was listed as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in April, 1986.

"This historic documentation was undertaken in December 1987 in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement by the City of Grand Rapids, Fedral Highway Administration, State Historic Preservation Office and Michigan Department of Transportation as a mitigative measure prior to the demolition replacement of the bridge in early 1988."

Robert Phillips, Environmental Scientist
Williams and Works
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Dimensions
Length of largest span: 87.0 ft.
Total length: 468.0 ft.
Deck width: 64.0 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.97028, -85.67556   (decimal degrees)
42°58'13" N, 85°40'32" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/608005/4758365 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Grand Rapids West
Inventory numbers
NRHP 80004811 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 37178 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Arch (12,651)
Built 1904 (589)
Built during 1900s (7,631)
Closed-spandrel arch (4,257)
Deck arch (11,888)
Grand Rapids, Michigan (14)
HAER documented (1,122)
Joseph P. Rusche (2)
Kent County, Michigan (35)
 Lost (28,414)
Lost 1988 (187)
Lost during 1980s (1,530)
Michigan (1,389)
NR-listed (3,013)
Owned by city (6,079)
Replaced by new bridge (19,321)
Span length 75-100 feet (6,651)
Total length 250-500 feet (5,506)

Update Log 

  • December 9, 2019: Updated by Mike Kerkau: Builder
  • February 7, 2017: New photo from Dana and Kay Klein
  • December 14, 2016: New photo from Dave King
  • August 14, 2008: Added by J.R. Manning

Sources 

  • J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
  • HAER MI-27 - Bridge Street Bridge, Spanning Grand River, Michigan & Bridge Streets, Grand Rapids, Kent County, MI
  • Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
  • Dana and Kay Klein
  • Mike Kerkau - mjkerkau [at] gmail [dot] com

Comments 

Post a comment here