Mystery Bridge Nr. 88: The Bridges of Davis City, Iowa

Photo provided by Hank Zalatel

The next mystery bridge actually features two structures located only 500-600 feet from each other. One of them was a railroad bridge, the other was a wagon bridge of the bygone era that has now been supplanted by the current structure. Both are located over the Grand River in the small town of Davis City in Decatur County, Iowa. The difference between the two in terms of appearance are the trusses originally built and rebuilt at different times. With the wagon bridge, there were two different truss spans, each one having been built by a different bridge builder. Each crossing had different truss designs and as they were both overhead truss bridges, they had different portal bracings. While both of these bridges are long gone and the railroad crossing has been removed since the early 1980s, a lot of questions about the structures remain open, especially as to the bridges’ dimensions, the builders and the dates of construction, although one needs to be clear that Davis City was established in 1854 with the railroad coming to town in 1879, the time of the arrival of the Chicago-Burlington and Quincy Railroad (known here as the Quincy Line), according to information from local historical resources. Using that date as our starting point, let’s take a look at the profile of each crossing, whose mysteries need to be solved

 

The 1911 Wagon Bridge. Photo courtesy of the Decatur County Historical Society.

Wagon Bridge:

 

Spanning the Grand River at present-day North Bridge Street, US Hwy. 69 and River Bank Park, this bridge used to carry the Jefferson  Highway, the first north-south intercontinental highway that was established in 1915, connecting Winnepeg with New Orleans with stops in Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Louis, Memphis and Vicksburg. The current structure was built in 2011, replacing a concrete slab bridge that had existed since 1931. While the 1931 structure was considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places according to research by the late James Hippen and officials at Iowa DOT, its predecessor would surely have been listed had it remained standing. According to local historical resources, including the county historical society and town records, the two-truss span was built in 1911, yet although the spans featured pin-connected Pratt trusses, the portal bracings indicated that they were built by two different bridge builders. One span features a 3-rhombus Howe lattice portal bracing with 45° angled heels, a protocol that had existed since the late 1890s. The older truss had Town lattice portals with heel bracings, BUT with ornamental features on each of the top chord portal entrances plus a builder’s plaque, located on the top of the portal.  Two theories come to mind when looking at this structure: 1. The older truss was one of the original ones of a 2-3 span crossing, and it was subsequentially replaced by the newer truss to replace one of the spans that collapsed or was destroyed in a flood. 2. There was a covered bridge or even an iron structure that had existed prior to 1911 and the town petitioned the county to build a new bridge. The spans came from two different places and replaced the original one built when the town was founded. In order to prove one or the other, one needs to find out when the first crossing was built and by whom. Then we need to find out the events that led to the replacement of one or both spans of the bridge, when the replacement span was built and which bridge builder was responsible. Should the two different spans were put together in 1911 to replace the earlier spans, where did the bridges originate from? And lastly, why did the bridge last for such a short time (only 20 years) and when the concrete bridge was built, what happened to the truss spans? Were they scrapped or relocated? Only by answering these questions will we be sure about the short history of this crossing.

The Quincy Line Whipple truss bridge. Photo courtesy of the Decatur County Historical Society.

Quincy Railroad Bridge:

Located 500-600 east of Wagon Bridge at the site of Mill and Maple Streets, the Quincy Railroad Bridge featured two different truss bridges yet they were single span crossings with trestle approaches. The first crossing was a Whipple through truss bridge with pinned connections and Town Lattice portal bracings. The length of the truss span was between 160 and 180 feet long, about three quarters as long as the length of neighboring Wagon Bridge, yet with the trestle approaches, the total length was between 400 and 450 feet. The bridge was built in 1879 at the time of the railroad coming through Davis City, even though there is no information regarding the bridge builder. The rail line was supposed to connect Leon with Mount Ayr and points to the southwestern part of Iowa. The bridge existed until about the time of the replacement of the Wagon Bridge in 1911 although when exactly this happened is unclear. It is known that the replacement bridge was a Pratt through truss bridge with V-laced portal and strut bracings and riveted connections. The length of the main span appeared to be between 130 and 150 feet with the total length being 300 feet.  Riveted truss bridges were being introduced around 1910 for both railroad and highway crossings because of their sturdiness. Therefore it is logical that the Quincy Line needed a stronger crossing to accomodate the needs of the customers along the way. The question is whether the Whipple truss bridge was replaced at the same time as the Wagon Bridge. If so was it because of a natural disaster that affected Davis City or was it circumstantial? If not, when was the railroad bridge replaced? Judging by the postcards in the geneology page (click on the names of the bridges for more information), the Whipple truss bridge existed well beyond 1905 with the last photo having been taken in 1907. The question is when was it replaced and by whom? While the Quincy became part of the Burlington Northern (and later the BNSF) Consortium, the line through Davis City was abandoned sometime during the 1980s, and the bridge was subsequentially removed. All that is left is a small section of what is used to be a rail line to the north of the town.

 

Mystery Bridge Nr. 87: A Bridge With an Unusual Railing and Plaque

 

Our 87th mystery bridge takes us down to Saxony again and to the town of Eibenstock. Located 13 kilometers southwest of Schneeberg and 22 kilometers west of Aue, this community of 7,000 inhabitants feature not only one but thirteen different sections that had once been villages, all located within a 122.2 squared kilometers from each other, meaning approximately 68 people per square km. At at a height of 650 meters above sea level, Eibenstock is one of the highest communities in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountain region). Founded 862 years ago, the community was one of the main centers for nickel and copper mining in the region. Much of the architecture from the 17th and 18th Centuries have remained in tact, including the churches, the Post Mile and the historic town center. There, one can find mini fairy tale huts with scenes from over a dozen stories. The town is located south of the Eibenstock Reservoir, an artificial lake that was created with the Dam, built in 1984 to control the flow of water from the Zwickauer Mulde River. Prior to that, the river valley was one of the deepest in Saxony and one that required both a railway line from Chemnitz and Aue but also a steep cable-line car to Eibenstock, once the steepest in eastern Germany. Both gave way to progress with the dam and reservoir. But even the lake provides some boating, fishing and hiking opportunities in the summer time, a complement to its traditional skiing and winter amusement area between the lake and the community.

One of several Stone arch bridges in Eibenstock. This one is at Haberleithe and Bachstrasse

 

And while the Zwickauer Mulde flows past the town of Eibenstock through the lake bearing its name, two creeks flow through the town, merging at the town square at the corner of the town’s elementary school: the Dönitzbach and the Rähmerbach. From there, the newly merged Rähmerbach flows quickly down the steep valley and empties into the Reservoir, only two kilometers away.  Several arch bridges cross the two creeks in Eibenstock- the classical stone arch bridge as well as modern arch bridges whose decking and railings curve upwards. With each span having a length of 5-10 meters, it is easy to overlook them because they are typical structures a person could even jump over. However, one cannot overlook this structure:

It is a short beam bridge with a length of 9-10 meters and 8 meters wide. It spans the Dönitzbach carrying Bürgermeister Hesse Strasse at the market square on the opposite end of the elementary school, where Winklerstrasse meets.  While one may look at it as just a short bridge, the uniqueness comes with the railing on the side facing the market square.  There, we have a curved railing with vertical ends, all made using sandstone brick. At the center of the span, the top portion makes a U-shaped dip deep enough to include an iron shield. Curved and ornamental, the shield represents the symbol of luck, featuring a long rake in the middle, a three-leaf clover on the left and a miner’s chisel on the right. One can assume that given Eibenstock’s location in the Erzgebirge, the shield goes by the slogan “Glück Auf!” which means either “Good luck!” or even “Hello!” in German. In fact, the Erzgebirge Region has three characteristics that make it special: woodwork, mining and farming. When visiting the Christmas market in Germany and visiting the booth selling products from the Region, be it a lighted Christmas arch (Lichterbogen), Christmas Pyramid or any wooden products as well as metal bracelets and figures, one will see how they are handmade, going from forest or mines through the whole process into the fine product to be given to your loved one for the Holidays.

Close-up of the iron shield with the markings typical of the Region. Any ideas how old this is?

 

But going back to the mystery bridge, the structure appears to have been built most recently, going back no more than 10 years, and the railing and iron shield stemmed from the structure the present bridge replaced. This can be seen, especially with the shield, as it has shown some wear and tear over the years with rust and corrosion appearing especially on the back side. The question is what did the previous bridge look like? Did it look like the stone arches that still exist in Eibenstock? When was it built and if the shield was part of the original structure, since when, and who designed it?

 

If you have any answers, then we’ll be happy to take them. Just drop a line and we’ll update this bridge until the mystery bridge is solved.

For those who want an Impression of the German Christmas market from the author, you should check out the sister column, The Flensburg Files and its tour guide page. There, you can find the places the author has visited, including those in the Erzgebirge and Saxony to date. This Season’s tour continues in the Erzgebirge and includes some Holiday stories of Christmas’ past. Click on the link to the Tour Guide page and here for details on the Holiday stories that are being collected.

 

Historic Bridge in Washington State Available/ Catch: State Will Pay for the Costs. Any Takers?

Photo taken by K.A. Erickson in 2009 before it was replaced.

Washington DOT (WSDOT) will pay up to $1 million for the dismantling, transporting and reassembling of the 1925 through truss bridge to be reused for any purpose.

TACOMA, WS-  Sometimes historic bridges get into the way of progress and need to be replaced. This is especially true with bridges whose height, width and weight restrictions hamper the ability to get trucks and other means of transportation across.  However, before they are removed, states are required to put them up for sale so that third parties can claim them and relocate them the way they see fit. In general, the bridge program has had a mix of successes and failures in selling off their historic assets, for on the one hand, third parties wishing to purchase the historic bridge for use are shirked away by the cost for transportation and reassembly. Furthermore bridges marketed by the department of transportation are often too big or in the case of arch, beam and suspension bridges, too entrenched or too fragile to relocate. On the other hand, however, one will see in each state a success story of a historic bridge that was given to a third party. This is especially true with truss bridges as they are easily taken apart, transported to a new location in segments and reassembled. One will see an example in every state, yet Indiana, Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Minnesota have multiple examples of success stories. Even some stone arch bridges have been relocated to new sites where they still serve their purpose.

However, there is one state department of transportation that is going the extra mile to sell their historic bridge by even paying for the relocation and reassembly of the historic bridge. Between now and 2019, the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) can sell you this historic through truss bridge:

According to the information by the WSDOT and bridgehunter.com, this historic bridge was built in 1925 and used to cross the Puyallup River at State Highway 167 (Meridan Street) in Puyallup, located seven miles east of Tacoma, until it was replaced in 2011 by a modern crossing. It was then relocated on land, where it has been waiting for its new owner ever since. Washington has got a wide array of historic bridges, whose unique design makes it appealing for tourists. They have the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (with its name Galloping Gertie), the , the world’s only concrete pony truss bridge,  and a housed through truss bridge made of wood in Whitman County that was once a railroad crossing, just to name a few.  The Puyallup Bridge is a riveted Turner through truss bridge, a hybrid Warren truss design that features subdivided chords and A-framed panels. After the demolition of the Liberty Memorial Bridge in Bismarck, ND in 2009, this bridge is the last of its kind and one of two of its design left in the world- the other is a Turner pony truss crossing in the German city of Chemnitz. Normally, going by the standard marketing policy, the historic bridge is marketed first before it is replaced and then taken down if no one wants it. However, looking at that tactic done by many state DOTs, this has not allowed much time for third parties to step forward and save it, especially because of the costs involved. For some bridges, like the Champ-Clark Truss Bridge, spanning the Mississippi River at the Missouri-Illinois border, there was almost no information about the bridge being up for sale as well as a very small time window of three months, thus providing no interest for at least one of the spans. According to MoDOT representatives in an interview with the Chronicles a couple months ago, the spans now belong to the same contractor building the replacement, who in turn will remove the spans when the new bridge opens in 2019.

The Pullayup Bridge is different because of its large size and rare design, which goes along with the history of its construction. It was built in 1925 by Maury Morton Caldwell, a bridge engineer who had established his mark for the Seattle-Tacoma area. This event was important for its completion came at the heels of the introduction of the US Highway System a year later. Born in Waynesboro, Virginia in 1875, Caldwell moved to the Seattle area in 1904. He worked as a civil engineer for the City of Tacoma from 1910 to 1916 before starting his own engineering business. Prior to the construction of this bridge in 1925, Caldwell had been responsible for the construction of the Carbon River Bridge in 1921, the Pasco-Kennewick Bridge in 1922 and the Wiskah River Drawbridge in Aberdeen in 1925.  Yet the 371-foot long Pullayup Bridge proved to be one of his masterpieces that he built in 1925, thus leaving an important mark on his legacy of bridge building in the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area. It is unknown how many other bridges were credited to his name, but from the historic research conducted by WSDOT, he was never a licensed professional engineer for Washington State and only practiced the profession for the Seattle-Tacoma area, which means the highly likelihood of more bridges having been designed by Caldwell and located strictly in north and western Washington and possibly British Columbia. He died in 1942, having been survived by his wife, Amy, whom he married in 1915, and his sister Nettle, who resided in Virginia state.

The Pullayup Bridge is being offered to those interested by WSDOT between now and 2019. The catch to this is the DOT will pay for the dismantling, relocation and reassembling costs- up to $1 million for the whole process. The only cost that the party may have to pay is for the abutments and possibly the road approaching it. The deal provided by WSDOT is a great steal for those wishing to have a unique historic bridge for reuse as a park or bike trail crossing. Even the thought of using it as a monument describing the history of the bridge, bridge engineering and M.M. Caldwell is realistic. Some parties who have called up wished to convert it into a house, similar to one of the reused spans of the now demolished eastern half of the San Fransisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which had been built in 1936 and was replaced with a cable-stayed span in 2013.  The main slogan is if you have an idea for the bridge, WSDOT can pay for it, and you can make your dream a reality. With many successful projects, stemming from creating historic bridge parks in Iowa, Michigan and coming soon to Delaware (where historic bridges were imported from other regions) to numerous bridges along the bike trails throughout the US, Europe and elsewhere, this deal to have the bridge for free, with a transportation agency having to pay for the relocation and reerection at its new home, is something that one cannot really afford to miss out on.

If you are interested in this unique historic bridge, please contact Steve Fuchs at WSDOT, using this link, which will also provide you with more information on this structure. The agency is also looking for more information on M.M. Caldwell and other bridges that he may have designed and contributed to construction. If you know of other bridges built by this local engineer, please contact Craig Holstine, using the following contact details:  holstic@wsdot.wa.gov or by phone: 360-570-6639.

Historic Bridge in Washington State Available/ Catch: State Will Pay for the Costs. Any Takers?

Photo taken by K.A. Erickson in 2009 before it was replaced.

Washington DOT (WSDOT) will pay up to $1 million for the dismantling, transporting and reassembling of the 1925 through truss bridge to be reused for any purpose.

 

TACOMA, WS-  Sometimes historic bridges get into the way of progress and need to be replaced. This is especially true with bridges whose height, width and weight restrictions hamper the ability to get trucks and other means of transportation across.  However, before they are removed, states are required to put them up for sale so that third parties can claim them and relocate them the way they see fit. In general, the bridge program has had a mix of successes and failures in selling off their historic assets, for on the one hand, third parties wishing to purchase the historic bridge for use are shirked away by the cost for transportation and reassembly. Furthermore bridges marketed by the department of transportation are often too big or in the case of arch, beam and suspension bridges, too entrenched or too fragile to relocate. On the other hand, however, one will see in each state a success story of a historic bridge that was given to a third party. This is especially true with truss bridges as they are easily taken apart, transported to a new location in segments and reassembled. One will see an example in every state, yet Indiana, Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Minnesota have multiple examples of success stories. Even some stone arch bridges have been relocated to new sites where they still serve their purpose.

 

However, there is one state department of transportation that is going the extra mile to sell their historic bridge by even paying for the relocation and reassembly of the historic bridge. Between now and 2019, the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) can sell you this historic through truss bridge:

 

According to the information by the WSDOT and bridgehunter.com, this historic bridge was built in 1925 and used to cross the Puyallup River at State Highway 167 (Meridan Street) in Puyallup, located seven miles east of Tacoma, until it was replaced in 2011 by a modern crossing. It was then relocated on land, where it has been waiting for its new owner ever since. Washington has got a wide array of historic bridges, whose unique design makes it appealing for tourists. They have the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (with its name Galloping Gertie), the , the world’s only concrete pony truss bridge,  and a housed through truss bridge made of wood in Whitman County that was once a railroad crossing, just to name a few.  The Puyallup Bridge is a riveted Turner through truss bridge, a hybrid Warren truss design that features subdivided chords and A-framed panels. After the demolition of the Liberty Memorial Bridge in Bismarck, ND in 2009, this bridge is the last of its kind and one of two of its design left in the world- the other is a Turner pony truss crossing in the German city of Chemnitz. Normally, going by the standard marketing policy, the historic bridge is marketed first before it is replaced and then taken down if no one wants it. However, looking at that tactic done by many state DOTs, this has not allowed much time for third parties to step forward and save it, especially because of the costs involved. For some bridges, like the Champ-Clark Truss Bridge, spanning the Mississippi River at the Missouri-Illinois border, there was almost no information about the bridge being up for sale as well as a very small time window of three months, thus providing no interest for at least one of the spans. According to MoDOT representatives in an interview with the Chronicles a couple months ago, the spans now belong to the same contractor building the replacement, who in turn will remove the spans when the new bridge opens in 2019.

The Pullayup Bridge is different because of its large size and rare design, which goes along with the history of its construction. It was built in 1925 by Maury Morton Caldwell, a bridge engineer who had established his mark for the Seattle-Tacoma area. This event was important for its completion came at the heels of the introduction of the US Highway System a year later. Born in Waynesboro, Virginia in 1875, Caldwell moved to the Seattle area in 1904. He worked as a civil engineer for the City of Tacoma from 1910 to 1916 before starting his own engineering business. Prior to the construction of this bridge in 1925, Caldwell had been responsible for the construction of the Carbon River Bridge in 1921, the Pasco-Kennewick Bridge in 1922 and the Wiskah River Drawbridge in Aberdeen in 1925.  Yet the 371-foot long Pullayup Bridge proved to be one of his masterpieces that he built in 1925, thus leaving an important mark on his legacy of bridge building in the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area. It is unknown how many other bridges were credited to his name, but from the historic research conducted by WSDOT, he was never a licensed professional engineer for Washington State and only practiced the profession for the Seattle-Tacoma area, which means the highly likelihood of more bridges having been designed by Caldwell and located strictly in north and western Washington and possibly British Columbia. He died in 1942, having been survived by his wife, Amy, whom he married in 1915, and his sister Nettle, who resided in Virginia state.

The Pullayup Bridge is being offered to those interested by WSDOT between now and 2019. The catch to this is the DOT will pay for the dismantling, relocation and reassembling costs- up to $1 million for the whole process. The only cost that the party may have to pay is for the abutments and possibly the road approaching it. The deal provided by WSDOT is a great steal for those wishing to have a unique historic bridge for reuse as a park or bike trail crossing. Even the thought of using it as a monument describing the history of the bridge, bridge engineering and M.M. Caldwell is realistic. Some parties who have called up wished to convert it into a house, similar to one of the reused spans of the now demolished eastern half of the San Fransisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which had been built in 1936 and was replaced with a cable-stayed span in 2013.  The main slogan is if you have an idea for the bridge, WSDOT can pay for it, and you can make your dream a reality. With many successful projects, stemming from creating historic bridge parks in Iowa, Michigan and coming soon to Delaware (where historic bridges were imported from other regions) to numerous bridges along the bike trails throughout the US, Europe and elsewhere, this deal to have the bridge for free, with a transportation agency having to pay for the relocation and reerection at its new home, is something that one cannot really afford to miss out on.

If you are interested in this unique historic bridge, please contact Steve Fuchs at WSDOT, using this link, which will also provide you with more information on this structure. The agency is also looking for more information on M.M. Caldwell and other bridges that he may have designed and contributed to construction. If you know of other bridges built by this local engineer, please contact Craig Holstine, using the following contact details:  holstic@wsdot.wa.gov or by phone: 360-570-6639.

 

Mystery Bridge Nr. 87: A Bridge with an Unusual Railing and Plaque

 

Our 87th mystery bridge takes us down to Saxony again and to the town of Eibenstock. Located 13 kilometers southwest of Schneeberg and 22 kilometers west of Aue, this community of 7,000 inhabitants feature not only one but thirteen different sections that had once been villages, all located within a 122.2 squared kilometers from each other, meaning approximately 68 people per square km. At at a height of 650 meters above sea level, Eibenstock is one of the highest communities in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountain region). Founded 862 years ago, the community was one of the main centers for nickel and copper mining in the region. Much of the architecture from the 17th and 18th Centuries have remained in tact, including the churches, the Post Mile and the historic town center. There, one can find mini fairy tale huts with scenes from over a dozen stories. The town is located south of the Eibenstock Reservoir, an artificial lake that was created with the Dam, built in 1984 to control the flow of water from the Zwickauer Mulde River. Prior to that, the river valley was one of the deepest in Saxony and one that required both a railway line from Chemnitz and Aue but also a steep cable-line car to Eibenstock, once the steepest in eastern Germany. Both gave way to progress with the dam and reservoir. But even the lake provides some boating, fishing and hiking opportunities in the summer time, a complement to its traditional skiing and winter amusement area between the lake and the community.

One of several Stone arch bridges in Eibenstock. This one is at Haberleithe and Bachstrasse

 

And while the Zwickauer Mulde flows past the town of Eibenstock through the lake bearing its name, two creeks flow through the town, merging at the town square at the corner of the town’s elementary school: the Dönitzbach and the Rähmerbach. From there, the newly merged Rähmerbach flows quickly down the steep valley and empties into the Reservoir, only two kilometers away.  Several arch bridges cross the two creeks in Eibenstock- the classical stone arch bridge as well as modern arch bridges whose decking and railings curve upwards. With each span having a length of 5-10 meters, it is easy to overlook them because they are typical structures a person could even jump over. However, one cannot overlook this structure:

It is a short beam bridge with a length of 9-10 meters and 8 meters wide. It spans the Dönitzbach carrying Bürgermeister Hesse Strasse at the market square on the opposite end of the elementary school, where Winklerstrasse meets.  While one may look at it as just a short bridge, the uniqueness comes with the railing on the side facing the market square.  There, we have a curved railing with vertical ends, all made using sandstone brick. At the center of the span, the top portion makes a U-shaped dip deep enough to include an iron shield. Curved and ornamental, the shield represents the symbol of luck, featuring a long rake in the middle, a three-leaf clover on the left and a miner’s chisel on the right. One can assume that given Eibenstock’s location in the Erzgebirge, the shield goes by the slogan “Glück Auf!” which means either “Good luck!” or even “Hello!” in German. In fact, the Erzgebirge Region has three characteristics that make it special: woodwork, mining and farming. When visiting the Christmas market in Germany and visiting the booth selling products from the Region, be it a lighted Christmas arch (Lichterbogen), Christmas Pyramid or any wooden products as well as metal bracelets and figures, one will see how they are handmade, going from forest or mines through the whole process into the fine product to be given to your loved one for the Holidays.

Close-up of the iron shield with the markings typical of the Region. Any ideas how old this is?

 

But going back to the mystery bridge, the structure appears to have been built most recently, going back no more than 10 years, and the railing and iron shield stemmed from the structure the present bridge replaced. This can be seen, especially with the shield, as it has shown some wear and tear over the years with rust and corrosion appearing especially on the back side. The question is what did the previous bridge look like? Did it look like the stone arches that still exist in Eibenstock? When was it built and if the shield was part of the original structure, since when, and who designed it?

 

If you have any answers, then we’ll be happy to take them. Just drop a line and we’ll update this bridge until the mystery bridge is solved.

For those who want an Impression of the German Christmas market from the author, you should check out the sister column, The Flensburg Files and its tour guide page. There, you can find the places the author has visited, including those in the Erzgebirge and Saxony to date. This Season’s tour continues in the Erzgebirge and includes some Holiday stories of Christmas’ past. Click on the link to the Tour Guide page and here for details on the Holiday stories that are being collected.

 

 

Springfield Bowstring Arch Bridge Restored- To be Part of Local Park Trail

Springfield Bridge at sunset. Unless noted, photos taken by Workin Bridges and BACH Steel for press release use.

Historic Bowstring Arch Bridge Restored after a nearly one-year project to relocate the structure to a city park. Dedication ceremony on 23 September in Conway.

CONWAY, ARKANSAS- Bridge crews and preservationists are celebrating the rebirth of one of the oldest surviving historic bridges in Arkansas. The Springfield Bowstring Arch Bridge is back in use after a record-breaking stint, which featured the disassembling, relocation, restoration and rassembling of the 1871 structure, a product of the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, all within a span of ca. nine months! Usually, such projects last between 1-2 years, pending on the truss type, length and width and the way it should be restored. For other bridges, such as arches, suspension bridges and viaduct, it may take up to five years, pending on how it is restored.  The Springfield Bridge, with its main span of 146 feet and a width of 12 feet, is one of the longest of its kind built by King that is left. However when looking back at the bridge before its relocation from the Faulkner-Conway county line to Conway City in November 2016, it presented a totally different picture- a rather sad one when looking at it through the lens of Julie Bowers of Workin Bridges and Nels Raynor of BACH Steel.

Springfield Bridge before its relocation. Photo taken by Julie Bowers

Workin’ Bridges is a non  profit organization based in Grinnell, Iowa that is dedicated to historic bridge preservation, and Bach Structural and Oranmental Steel (BACH Steel) of Holt, Michigan. Six years after the completion of a study by Raynor and Bowers , the historic bridge restoration project was successfully completed. The success was due to a rare collaboration between the City of Conway, Faulkner County, and Dr. Ken Barnes of the Faulkner County Historical Society who was essential in the writing and successful grant application and petitioning the City of Conway to find a place to move the bridge. Permission to move was granted by the National Park Service for this structure that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A dedication to the restoration and future of this iron bowstring will be held Saturday, September 23rd at 10:00 am  at Beaverfork Lake Park in Conway, Arkansas.

The iron truss was fabricated in 1871 and erected in 1874 over E. Cadron Creek between Faulkner and Conway Counties as the first and oldest highway bridge built for farm to market requirements by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The bridge restoration was funded by City of Conway tourism dollars used for parks, Faulkner County equipment, expertise and  funds for the extra crane, with the help of Metroplan which allowed the restructuring of grant funding to allow preservation to move forward.

The bridge was removed from the Cadron in November of 2016. The BACH Steel  Rivet Gang went to work with the disassembly and marking the members for transportation to a paint removal company in Little Rock, managed by Snyder Environmental. Workin’ Bridges was then given the job of designing the new substructure at Lake Beaverfork, engineered by James Schiffer of Schiffer Engineering Group of Traverse City, Michigan.

Once the caissons were designed, drilled, formed and poured,  and covered with riveted columns repairs to the bridge trusses began. Nels Raynor of BACH Steel is the premier bridge restoration craftsman throughout the United States that specializes in restoring bridges the old fashioned way. “In Kind” restoration means that parts are replaced with similar parts, rivets replaced with rivets and if new parts are required they are fashioned with care. When asked Raynor stated: “This one stands out as one of the most beautiful. I wish there were more people like those of Conway and Faulkner County. Those who wish to protect and save their hesitate. It’s part of my life’s work to preserve those structures. My company has been bless with finding those with the same passion inmy partners Derek and Lee Pung, Andy Hufnagel and Brock. Behind the scenes we have my daughter Heather Raynor, Nathan Holth and Jim Schiffer. We want to thank everyone for giving us the creative freedom to make this one of the most memorable and beautiful bridges we have ever been involved with.”

Close-up of the work done on the bridge, which includes new decking and railing, plus restoration that is in-kind.

Jack Bell, Chief of Staff for the City of Conway, Mark Ledbetter, Director of Roads for Faulkner County, Steve Ibbotson, Director of Parks for the City of Conway and Judge Baker were the team that provided the collaborative efforts to make this a successful project. They teamed up for all of the site requirements, from building a road and crane pad to the old location on Cadron Creek, to building the roads and crane pad for the reset at Lake Beaverfork. They utilized reclaimed stone from the original abutments to sculpt the new location with retaining walls and provide a bench for viewing. Bell said, “The partnership between Workin’ Bridges, BACH Steel, Faulkner and the City of Conway was essential to bring this project to fruition.  A significant piece of Faulkner County history has been saved and an iconic amenity has been added to our Parks system.”

New railings, as required by law, were designed by Raynor and company, who were able to provide historically accurate laced and riveted railing, using requirements for today’s pedestrians. The rail was then sent to Conway, where the local historical society teamed up with Workin’ Bridges to  promote the “Paint the Rail” campaign. The campaign successfully contributed the funds needed to coat the rail, using a PPG product delivered by Furgerson Brothers Painting.

Nels Raynor answering questions from reporters.

The restoration will be featured in a documentary filmed by Terry Strauss of Ultimate Restorations and should be available for viewing on PBS and through Amazon Prime in the fall of 2017. It will be featured in a later article provided by the Bridgehunter’s Chronicles.  The project was also documented by Workin’ Bridges with the aid of Nathan Holth of HistoricBridges.org. The bridge was built by craftsmen and the record of their work, the “craftsman’s record” was evident in each cast and riveted piece in the bridge said  Raynor. “To think that this all started six years ago with a site visit to Arkansas with my son Brock and Bowers with Workin’ Bridges. What this bridge has become today is just amazing to me and I have been involved with many bridge projects”.

It is a testament to the fact that we work better together, always have. The collaboration made a very big bridge project manageable, and used resources in a way that reduced time and material cost”, stated Bowers from her office in Holt, Michigan. “One never knows if a site visit that renders real numbers for project evaluation will become a job. These bridges take a lot of time, craftsmanship and money, but in the end it is all about making memories. The collaboration worked well and rendered a project that could have cost far more into an affordable package for the parks system.”

More information about the bridge, pictures from the process can be found at Springfield Bridge on Facebook. Questions may be directed to Julie Bowers at jbowerz1@gmail.com. The Chronicles would like to congratulations to Julie, Nels and the rest of the crew for bringing a relict back to life. Thanks to you, you’ve just given people a chance to learn more about the history of Conway County, King and American infrastructure. 🙂

Springfield Bowstring Arch Bridge Restored- to Be Part of Local Park Trail

Springfield Bridge at sunset. Unless noted, photos taken by Workin Bridges and BACH Steel for press release use.

Historic Bowstring Arch Bridge Restored after a nearly one-year project to relocate the structure to a city park. Dedication ceremony on 23 September in Conway.

CONWAY, ARKANSAS- Bridge crews and preservationists are celebrating the rebirth of one of the oldest surviving historic bridges in Arkansas. The Springfield Bowstring Arch Bridge is back in use after a record-breaking stint, which featured the disassembling, relocation, restoration and rassembling of the 1871 structure, a product of the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, all within a span of ca. nine months! Usually, such projects last between 1-2 years, pending on the truss type, length and width and the way it should be restored. For other bridges, such as arches, suspension bridges and viaduct, it may take up to five years, pending on how it is restored.  The Springfield Bridge, with its main span of 146 feet and a width of 12 feet, is one of the longest of its kind built by King that is left. However when looking back at the bridge before its relocation from the Faulkner-Conway county line to Conway City in November 2016, it presented a totally different picture- a rather sad one when looking at it through the lens of Julie Bowers of Workin Bridges and Nels Raynor of BACH Steel.

Springfield Bridge before its relocation. Photo taken by Julie Bowers

Workin’ Bridges is a non  profit organization based in Grinnell, Iowa that is dedicated to historic bridge preservation, and Bach Structural and Oranmental Steel (BACH Steel) of Holt, Michigan. Six years after the completion of a study by Raynor and Bowers , the historic bridge restoration project was successfully completed. The success was due to a rare collaboration between the City of Conway, Faulkner County, and Dr. Ken Barnes of the Faulkner County Historical Society who was essential in the writing and successful grant application and petitioning the City of Conway to find a place to move the bridge. Permission to move was granted by the National Park Service for this structure that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A dedication to the restoration and future of this iron bowstring will be held Saturday, September 23rd at 10:00 am  at Beaverfork Lake Park in Conway, Arkansas.

The iron truss was fabricated in 1871 and erected in 1874 over E. Cadron Creek between Faulkner and Conway Counties as the first and oldest highway bridge built for farm to market requirements by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The bridge restoration was funded by City of Conway tourism dollars used for parks, Faulkner County equipment, expertise and  funds for the extra crane, with the help of Metroplan which allowed the restructuring of grant funding to allow preservation to move forward.

The bridge was removed from the Cadron in November of 2016. The BACH Steel  Rivet Gang went to work with the disassembly and marking the members for transportation to a paint removal company in Little Rock, managed by Snyder Environmental. Workin’ Bridges was then given the job of designing the new substructure at Lake Beaverfork, engineered by James Schiffer of Schiffer Engineering Group of Traverse City, Michigan.

Once the caissons were designed, drilled, formed and poured,  and covered with riveted columns repairs to the bridge trusses began. Nels Raynor of BACH Steel is the premier bridge restoration craftsman throughout the United States that specializes in restoring bridges the old fashioned way. “In Kind” restoration means that parts are replaced with similar parts, rivets replaced with rivets and if new parts are required they are fashioned with care. When asked Raynor stated: “This one stands out as one of the most beautiful. I wish there were more people like those of Conway and Faulkner County. Those who wish to protect and save their hesitate. It’s part of my life’s work to preserve those structures. My company has been bless with finding those with the same passion inmy partners Derek and Lee Pung, Andy Hufnagel and Brock. Behind the scenes we have my daughter Heather Raynor, Nathan Holth and Jim Schiffer. We want to thank everyone for giving us the creative freedom to make this one of the most memorable and beautiful bridges we have ever been involved with.”

Close-up of the work done on the bridge, which includes new decking and railing, plus restoration that is in-kind.

Jack Bell, Chief of Staff for the City of Conway, Mark Ledbetter, Director of Roads for Faulkner County, Steve Ibbotson, Director of Parks for the City of Conway and Judge Baker were the team that provided the collaborative efforts to make this a successful project. They teamed up for all of the site requirements, from building a road and crane pad to the old location on Cadron Creek, to building the roads and crane pad for the reset at Lake Beaverfork. They utilized reclaimed stone from the original abutments to sculpt the new location with retaining walls and provide a bench for viewing. Bell said, “The partnership between Workin’ Bridges, BACH Steel, Faulkner and the City of Conway was essential to bring this project to fruition.  A significant piece of Faulkner County history has been saved and an iconic amenity has been added to our Parks system.”

New railings, as required by law, were designed by Raynor and company, who were able to provide historically accurate laced and riveted railing, using requirements for today’s pedestrians. The rail was then sent to Conway, where the local historical society teamed up with Workin’ Bridges to  promote the “Paint the Rail” campaign. The campaign successfully contributed the funds needed to coat the rail, using a PPG product delivered by Furgerson Brothers Painting.

Nels Raynor answering questions from reporters.

The restoration will be featured in a documentary filmed by Terry Strauss of Ultimate Restorations and should be available for viewing on PBS and through Amazon Prime in the fall of 2017. It will be featured in a later article provided by the Bridgehunter’s Chronicles.  The project was also documented by Workin’ Bridges with the aid of Nathan Holth of HistoricBridges.org. The bridge was built by craftsmen and the record of their work, the “craftsman’s record” was evident in each cast and riveted piece in the bridge said  Raynor. “To think that this all started six years ago with a site visit to Arkansas with my son Brock and Bowers with Workin’ Bridges. What this bridge has become today is just amazing to me and I have been involved with many bridge projects”.

It is a testament to the fact that we work better together, always have. The collaboration made a very big bridge project manageable, and used resources in a way that reduced time and material cost”, stated Bowers from her office in Holt, Michigan. “One never knows if a site visit that renders real numbers for project evaluation will become a job. These bridges take a lot of time, craftsmanship and money, but in the end it is all about making memories. The collaboration worked well and rendered a project that could have cost far more into an affordable package for the parks system.”

More information about the bridge, pictures from the process can be found at Springfield Bridge on Facebook. Questions may be directed to Julie Bowers at jbowerz1@gmail.com. The Chronicles would like to congratulations to Julie, Nels and the rest of the crew for bringing a relict back to life. Thanks to you, you’ve just given people a chance to learn more about the history of Conway County, King and American infrastructure. 🙂