Five Span Bridge
Photos
Five Span Bridge
License: Public domain: Released by author
View this photo at thiscycleoflife.blogspot.com
BH Photo #510883
Description
The original bridge here appears to have been a Whipple truss, two spans of which were destroyed by ice in 1912.The bridge was rebuilt in 1912-13 by the Oregonia Bridge Co. Three spans were destroyed by the flood of 1913 while under construction and replaced. One Whipple truss span was retained for the new bridge.
Facts
- Overview
- Lost Pratt/Whipple through truss bridge over Auglaize River on OH-637
- Location
- Junction, Paulding County, Ohio
- Status
- Replaced by a new bridge
- History
- Four spans built 1912-1913 by Oregonia Bridge Co.; demolished 1983; replaced 1984 by steel stringer bridge
- Builders
- - Oregonia Bridge Co. of Lebanon, Ohio
- Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio (Likely builder of the Whipple span)
- Design
- Five-span, pin-connected through truss with 1 Whipple and 4 Pratt spans
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +41.19426, -84.44519 (decimal degrees)
41°11'39" N, 84°26'43" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/714240/4563468 (zone/easting/northing)
- Inventory number
- BH 94723 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- November 3, 2021: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch
- October 27, 2021: Updated by Paul Plassman: Added WIBCo as possible builder
- October 27, 2021: Updated by Luke: Removed category "Wrought Iron Bridge Co." (MY oops)
- October 27, 2021: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
- October 14, 2021: Added by Paul Plassman
Related Bridges
- Five Span Bridge (Old) (Predecessor)
Sources
- Paul Plassman
- Potpourri : The Five-Span Bridge - Information about history and builders
- Geoff Hubbs
- Melissa Brand-Welch - melissabrandwelch [at] msn [dot] com
Comments
Now that I look at it closer, that's probably where the WIBCO plaque comes into play.
And yes, as always, great work on Melissa's part.
Melissa,
Great work!
So it looks like at least three spans of this bridge dated from 1913, with perhaps the exception of one of the end spans which had a 1912 plaque on it.
Another thing I hadn't noticed before was that in the elevation view in the blog, the left-most span was a Whipple truss while the others were Pratts, and the portal was different as well. Probably this span was from the original bridge that got partially wrecked in 1912.
The Tribune: March 27 1913
The Cincinnati Enquirer: March 20 1912
Paul, I'd like to look into this.
Twist: According to this article, the Five Span Bridge was washed out in the 1913 flood, which contradicts the information in the source link that the bridge was built in 1912.....maybe it was only partially wrecked?
https://www.facebook.com/PauldingCounty200/photos/a.42128044...
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/oh/paulding/five-span/
Before I realized that one span was different I assumed the WIBCo plaque was unrelated, but now that you mention it, it is possible/likely that it belonged with the older Whipple span.