Year constructed: 1915
Bridge type: Concrete Filled Spandrel Arch
National Register of Historic Places status: Listed
Length: 266 feet
Width: 24 feet
Spans: 3
FHWA: 010280
Jurisdiction: City of Shell Rock
Location: Cherry Street over the Shell Rock River in Shell Rock, Section 11, T91N-R15W (Shell Rock Township)
Details
On May 11, 1915, the Butler County Board of Supervisors let a contract for the erection of three bridges to the Miller-Hey Construction Company of Waterloo. Two of the bridges were located respectively in Coldwater and West Point Townships, while the third was this three-span structure in the town of Shell Rock. Also on May 11th, the Board awarded a contract to the Bement-Witt Lumber Company of Shell Rock to supply cement for the bridge. Miller-Hey erected the structure during the summer and fall of 1915, using special plans delineated in April of that year by the Iowa State Highway Commission. The commission's plans--ISHC Butler County Design No. 1--called for a three-span, filled spandrel concrete arch, with a 24-foot roadway flanked on both sides by sidewalks. Miller-Hey built the bridge for $16,500, while Bement-Witt was paid $1.23 per 100 pounds of cement delivered to the site. Work on the structure was completed by November 20, 1915. On that date, the board met with representatives of Miller-Hey and the state highway commission to inspect the newly completed bridge. The new structure was accepted, and Miller-Hey was issued an $8,435 warrant for the balance due on the project. Today, the Shell Rock Bridge retains a high degree of physical integrity, including builder's plates and the year "1915" cast into the concrete in the keystone of each span.
"Residents of the little Butler county metropolis are proud of the handsome new concrete arch bridge which now spans the River in the heart of the town," the state highway commission reported in its January 1916 Service Bulletin. "It is a beautiful design with curved wing walls and hand rails which flare to the full width of the street to form the approach to the bridge." As one of the major bridges designed by ISHC in 1915, the Shell Rock Bridge is important for its association with the agency in its formative years. During that year ISHC prepared special designs for some 472 bridges, totaling $1.5 million in constructions costs. Most of these were relatively small-scale structures, but a handful like the Parkersburg Bridge and Shell Rock Bridge in Butler County or the Burlington Bridge in Iowa City featured multiple-span concrete arches. As a well-preserved, early example of large-scale concrete arch design, the Shell Rock Bridge is an important highway-related resource [adapted from Fraser 1990].