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Big Blue River Bridge

Butler County, Nebraska

Photos 

View Beside Bridge.

Big Blue River Bridge; seen from the southwest. The bridge is located in Butler County, Nebraska, where county road E crosses the Big Blue east-southeast of Surprise, Nebraska. It was built in 1897, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Photo taken by anonymous

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BH Photo #179910

Map 

Information From Historic Bridge Inventory 

From Historic Bridge Inventory By Clayton B. Fraser

Located a mile from the small town of Surprise, this small-scale bridge consists of a single-span pinned Pratt bedstead, flanked on each end by a single steel stringer approach. According to county records, the Butler County Supervisors awarded a contract to the Canton Bridge Company for a bridge over the Blue River near Surprise. Using components rolled in Pittsburgh by Jones and Laughlin, the Ohio-based bridge contractor evidently erected this bedstead early the next year. The Big Blue River Bridge is technologically significant as one of the oldest documentable examples in Nebraska of this peculiar structural type.

Facts 

Overview
Pony truss bridge over Big Blue River on E Road, .5 mi. east and .3 mi. south of Surprise
Location
Butler County, Nebraska
Status
Closed to all traffic
History
Built 1897 by the Canton Bridge Co.; rehabilitated 1999
Builder
- Canton Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio
Design
Bedstead pratt pony truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 40.0 ft.
Total length: 65.9 ft.
Deck width: 15.7 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on June 29, 1992
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.10096, -97.29170   (decimal degrees)
41°06'03" N, 97°17'30" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
14/643454/4551371 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Surprise
Average daily traffic (as of 2003)
15
Inventory numbers
NRHP 92000708 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 23825 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of October 2008)
Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 22.2 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

19th Century (7,626)
Bedstead Pratt pony truss (355)
Bedstead truss (533)
Big Blue River (Nebraska) (42)
Built 1897 (266)
Built during 1890s (2,996)
Butler County, Nebraska (11)
Canton Bridge Co. (195)
Closed (2,663)
NR-listed (2,961)
 Nebraska (1,636)
One-lane traffic (7,613)
Owned by county (20,849)
Pony truss (16,241)
Pratt pony truss (3,654)
Pratt truss (9,347)
Span length 25-50 feet (15,708)
Total length 50-75 feet (9,318)
Truss (32,958)
Wooden deck (6,073)

Update Log 

  • September 28, 2010: New photos from Nathan Holth
  • June 14, 2010: Essay added by Nathan Holth

Sources 

Comments 

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