Year constructed: 1894
Bridge type: Pin-Connected Pratt Truss-Leg Bedstead
National Register of Historic Places status:
Bridge is un-evaluated in its current location
Length: 50 feet
Width: 16 feet
Spans: 1
FHWA: 180080
Jurisdiction: Henry County Conservation Department
Location: Spans a small creek in the Virden Recreation Area, Riverview Disc Golf Course in Oakland Mills Section 24, T71N-R7W (Tippecanoe Township)
Details
Located some two miles east of Salem, this small-scale wrought iron bridge carries a gravel-surfaced county road over Fish Creek. The structured consists of a single pinned Pratt bedstead, with the endposts forming the truss-leg substructure. The Fish Creek Bridge dates to 1893. On June 12th of that year, the Henry County Board of Supervisors ordered two 32-foot wrought iron trusses from the George E. King Bridge Company of Des Moines. Presumably fabricated by King's parent company, the King Iron Bridge Company of Cleveland, the two spans were delivered that year for $410.80 each. County records do not state who erected the trusses, but it is assumed that the Fish Creek Bridge and the other structure (now gone) were build by local labor, probably a county work force made up of day laborers. The Fish Creek Bridge has survived to the present, and it continues to carry vehicular traffic at this rural Jackson Township crossing, in essentially unaltered condition.
As one of the most prolific 19th century bridge erectors in Iowa, the George E. King Bridge Company maintained an extensive catalog of steel and iron spans in the 1890s, ranging from the standard to the esoteric. With its pinned Pratt configuration, the Fish Creek Bridge represents the former more than the latter. The bedstead truss enjoyed brief popularity in Iowa in the 1890s and early 1900s. A single "leg" functioned as both end post and support at each corner. This combined super- and substructure reduced erection costs somewhat, but bedstead trusses were prey to flood and collision damage and suffered from inherent structural weaknesses relating to compression stress in the lower chords. Only a dozen or so bedsteads remain in Iowa today. The Fish Creek Bridge is distinguished among these for its relatively early construction date. It is a noteworthy example of this uncommon Pratt truss variant. Since its nomination, the Fish Creek Bridge has been moved and now can be found in Oakland Mills Park, near 253rd Street and Franklin Avenue [Adapted from Crow-Dolby and Fraser 1992]