Year constructed: 1878-1879
Bridge type: Pin-Connected Pratt Through Truss
National Register of Historic Places status:
Bridge is un-evaluated in its current location
Length: 264 feet
Width: 16.1 feet
Spans: 1
FHWA: 131410
Jurisdiction: City of Adel
Location: Pedestrian bridge over the Raccoon River in Adel, Section 29, T79N-R27W (Adel Township)
Details
Located just southeast of Redfield in southwestern Dallas County, this crossing of the south Raccoon River is one of the region's oldest. The first bridge at this point, built as the county was in its formative stages, was built of wood. By 1878 the timber structure had deteriorated to the point of replacement. Late that year the Dallas County Board of Supervisors solicited competitive bids from several bridge companies to erect a wrought iron replacement truss. In November the board awarded a contract to design, fabricate and erect the truss to King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company. Comprised of a pinned Pratt through truss, the new Wiscotta Bridge featured typical King design and detailing, with lattice portal struts, punched eye bar tension members and channel floor beams clamped to the lower chords. Using iron members rolled in Pittsburgh by Carnegie, King fabricated and erected the truss. On February 18, 1879, the Wiscotta Bridge was accepted by the county. Total cost: $4,312.50. Its timber abutments and approach spans have been replaced at least once, but the channel span and iron cylinder piers are unaltered.
"Owing to the great number of rivers and running streams throughout the county," a gazetteer wrote in 1879, "there are few counties that have been called upon for larger expenditures for bridges than Dallas, in proportion to the age of the county and number of inhabitants, and in this respect the response of the people has been liberal. Crossed as the county is by four rivers and a great number of large creeks and numerous smaller streams that require bridging, the expense of building and maintaining bridges for the convenience of the public has been considerable, and as a result the county is already furnished with a large supply of good bridges." The Wiscotta Bridge is not the first iron truss undertaken by Dallas County, but it is the oldest of those that remain. In fact, it is one of the oldest wagon trusses remaining in Iowa. Built by one of the nation's most prolific bridge manufacturers, it is today a well-preserved resource [adapted from Fraser 1991].