Also our 218th Mystery Bridge
Our postcard Friday feature takes us to Iowa and to this two-span bowstring arch bridge spanning the Cedar River. This bridge represents a classic example of a type that was constructed between 1870 and 1890, and who built this structure remains unknown. What is known is what river it crosses, for it passes through the towns of Charles City and Floyd, in Floyd County, Iowa. The question is where was this bridge located, when was it built and who built it? There was no information available in the research. We just know that it was a two-span through structure whose characteristics are similar to the ones built by Wrought Iron Bridge Company, including the gusset plates that support the two diagonal and one vertical beams meeting in the center of the panel, as you can see in the postcard above. More puzzling is the approach span of the structure, where there is a bowstring through arch but with outriggers, as you can see in the postcard below:
Could it be that two bridge builders were involved? And if so, how?
This is where you come in? Any ideas and other information can be placed in the comment section below.
Remember: Your Bridge Matters. ❤
The Bridgehunter's Chronicles 
Robert M. Hybben and Clayton B. Fraser wrote the nomination form for the current Main Street bridge over the Cedar River, Charles City, constructed 1909 to replace the former bridge. They provided a history of bridges in the Charles City area from the first timber bridge at Mill Street (now Main Street), constructed in 1857, but destroyed by a flood prior to completion in 1858. A second bridge was constructed in 1864, but partially destroyed by flood in 1866. A temporary timber bridge was installed in 1867. It was replaced “in 1870 by a 2-span, 250-foot iron truss bridge, designed and built by W. H. and L. E. Truesdell of Belvidere, Illinois, for $14,422.50.” It survived until the current concrete bridge was approved in 1908 and completed in 1910. Hybben and Fraser reported the bowstring arch-trust was used as the as the design for major river crossings in Iowa in the 1870s.
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According to HistoricBridges.org, the bowstring arch bridge is not Truesdells’ bridge. It looks different. The bridge that replaced it in 1902 was a pratt truss that was pushed into the river in 1909 and relocated downstream. Apparently, the concrete arch span replaced it and is still in use. There were a number of bowstring arch bridges in Floyd County. Perhaps this was not at Charles City? The piers in the postcard and the photo look different to me.
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One last comment and I give up on this one! I found an old post card title Old Floyd Mill over Cedar River that looks like the bridge in the postcard and photo pictured above, and a post card written in 1911 with a photo of the bridge. It certainly seems likely that it was the bridge at the site of the old mill. Sanborn maps for 1888 (earliest available) through 1909 show an iron bridge over Cedar River on Main Street, with the mill on the side of the river between the bridge and the dam on the north east side of the bridge. In 1902, all of those were still on the Sanborn map. In 1909, the Sanborn shows a concrete bridge on Main and an iron bridge over the river at St. Mary’s street, east of Main. I have found nothing about the St. Mary’s bridge, other than it may have been the former truss bridge over Main, which was relocated down river. St. Mary’s bridge was pushed out by ice in 1913. The mill at the dam was first burned in 1906 and a new feed mill and large electric power plant were scheduled to replace the lost one. In 1911, after the concrete bridge had been built, the Power Company planned to replace the old mill with a “modern office building.” That mill burned in 1913.
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Now, with a bit more experience, I can say that both bowstrings spans were manufactured by Wrought Iron Bridge Co. but it looks like a post 1876 design.
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Did you see the photographs in the Wrought Iron Bridge Company on the Stanford website? If not, here is the link: https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4084139
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Thank You!
I have catalogs that are slightly later and a bid packet from 1875 but I hadn’t seen that. It’s interesting that the design element that I thought was in the 1876 patent is shown in the catalog.
There are so many neat things in the images such as multicolor paint schemes – still obvious despite the B&W photos. And the designs – the double portal bridges (three truss lines) – the vertical endpost Whipple. No my knowledge, none remain of those built by Wrought Iron Bridge Co.
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