The 104th mystery bridge takes us to Chesterton, Indiana. Spanning Coffee Creek, this is one of the most unusual truss bridges found on record to date because of its design. The bridge is a combination pony arch with riveted Howe truss features as a top chord. Pony arch because of the vertical beams supporting the arched truss spans, each beam is supported by an outrigger. The bridge had six panels total. Howe truss because of the X-frame design going from end to end in an arched fashion, all of it arched. Unique is the V-laced bracing running along the top part of the arched trusses, something that would have made it to the National Register of Historic Places, had it been left as is.
Records have pointed to the construction date of between 1893 and 1896, which would make this bridge one of the first ever to use riveted truss connections. Local records claim that it was built in 1893 and was located near the cemetary. Others claim that it was located somewhere else along the creek and that the location pointed in bridgehunter.com was only a guess. One claim shows that another bridge similar to this one was built in 1895 by the Indiana Bridge Company in Muncie.
This contradictory information leads us to the following questions:
- When was this bridge built and where exactly?
- Who was the bridge builder for this bridge? Was it the company in Muncie, or was it another company?
- How was this bridge built? Was it built using trusses from a demolished building- one of my guesses?
- How long did the bridge serve traffic before it was removed?
- How many other bridges- if any- existed during this time?
The bridge was estimated to have been between 40 and 60 feet long; the trusses were up to seven feet high and the width was 16 feet wide. Anything else about the bridge depends on how much information a person can provide. If you have some to add, please feel free to comment.
Good luck and let us know more about this bridge. 🙂
Link to the bridge: http://bridgehunter.com/in/porter/coffee-creek/
The Bridgehunter's Chronicles 
Appears to have carrried Porter Avenue just east of Calumet Road where the present day Porter Ave. Coffee Creek beam bridge is located.
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See: https://www.flickr.com/photos/shookphotos/4155563886.
Current bridge was built in 2015 replacing a 1963 structure. Perhaps the 1963 bridge replaced the bridge in your image.
To me, looks like the creation of someone like Charles Evan Fowler but I just skimmed his “The Ideals of Engineering Architectre” (in which he uses many of his projects as examples) and saw no mention. If completed in early 1890s perhaps slightly before his time.
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