Promen Drive Bridge

Photos

South Elevation, Looking Northeast

If there is any doubt of the sanity of a Bridge Hunter, note that these photos were taken on the coldest day of the year, on the south shore of wind-swept and very frozen Lake Winnebago.

For more about the history and significance of the bridges in Lakeside Park, see the essay under the Bridge Hunter listing for the Fountain Island Bridge.

Photo taken by J.R. Manning in December 2008

BH Photo #130460

Map

Maps and Databases

Charles S. Whitney and the Lakeside Park Bridge

Written by Jeffrey A. Hess as part of the 1986 Wisconsin DOT Historic Bridge Project

Architectural & Engineering Significance: The Lakeside Park Bridge in the City of Fond du Lac is a single-span, filled-spandrel, reinforced-concrete barrel-arch bridge. Overall structure length is 100 ft. Overall width is 33.42 ft. The arch span is 60 ft. with a rise of almost 8 ft., giving the structure an aesthetically-pleasing, low rise-to-span ratio. The railings and abutments are stone-faced with artificial stone copings on the railings, and decorative urns at the four corners. The outside faces of the spandrel walls are bush-hammered concrete. It is a well-preserved example of the stone-faced concrete design typical of Charles Whitney (1892-1959) and similar in concept, but not in surface treatment, to Whitney's 1939 Highland Avenue Bridge (P-45-703) in Cedarburg, Ozaukee County. The Highland Avenue Bridge exhibits rougher, more medieval-revival stone treatment, in contrast to the Lakeside Park Bridge, which has neo-classical elements.

Historical Significance: The Lakeside Park Bridge was designed by Charles S. Whitney and built by J. Rasrnussen & Sons for the city park board in 1927. Clearly a bridge of special aesthetic appeal was desired for this location, a central site in the park and very close to the lake. The original newspaper announcement of the project referred to the new structure as an "ornamental lagoon bridge." Today, a small metal-bowstring-truss, now a pedestrian bridge, stands near this representative Whitney park bridge of the 1920s. Together they create a compact and highly visible bridge exhibit, open to the public all year.

[Note: This document was prepared by Jeffrey A. Hess and Robert M. Frame III for the Wisconsin DOT. It is part of a project that was launched by the Wisconsin DOT in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration. It was published by the Wisconsin DOT in 1986, in a report entitled Historic Highway Bridges in Wisconsin, Volume 1.]

Facts

Overview: Concrete arch bridge over Lakeside Creek on Promen Drive in Fond du Lac
Location: Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin
Status: Open to traffic
History: Built 1927
Builders: - Charles S. Whitney of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Designer)
- J. Rassmussen and Sons Co.
Design: Single-span, filled-spandrel, reinforced-concrete barrel-arch
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 62.0 ft.
Total length: 100.1 ft.
Deck width: 24.9 ft.
Recognition: Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Also called: P-20-720
Lakeside Park Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude: +43.79745, -88.44300 (decimal degrees)
43°47'51" N, 88°26'35" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 16/383915/4850388 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:: Fond du Lac
Average daily traffic (as of 2015): 587
Inventory number: BH 34758 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of May 2018): Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 43 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Promen Drive Bridge

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Charles S. Whitney and the Lakeside Park Bridge

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