Utz Road Bridge

Information and Findings From Ohio's Historic Bridge Inventory

Setting/Context

The bridge carries a 2 lane road over a stream in a rural area of active farms.

Physical Description

The 1-span, 21'-long bridge, although functioning as a steel stringer, incorporates remnants of a combination timber and iron truss bridge that matches the specifications of an 1877 patent by Evrett S. Sherman of Galena, Ohio. The 2-panel, inverted king post trusses have timber upper chords with a housing of galvanized sheet metal. The upper chords rest on rolled I-section end posts, which are not original, and were probably timber in the first iteration of the bridge. Cast-iron blocks at the ends of the upper chord beams provide bolted connections for paired, threaded diagonal iron rods that pass through the upper chords. At the other end of the diagonals are loop-welded eyes that support a pair of stirrups for the bridge's only floorbeam. The floorbeam is a rolled I-beam that is not original, and was probably timber. One of the truss lines has a timber vertical post at midspan, but the vertical has been lost from the other truss. The steel stringers and wood plank deck are not original. The bridge is supported on stone abutments.

Integrity

The truss lines retain the form of the Sherman patented truss, but original materials appear to be the hardware, diagonals, and perhaps the timber upper chords and remaining vertical.

Summary of Significance

The bridge's technological significance is a very rare survival of a composite (wood and iron), short-span pony truss that matches the patent specifications of Evrett S. Sherman's patent of 1877 (No. 191,552). This patent was for short-span bridges, and was typical of the innovative period of truss development and the search for economical, easy-to-construct bridges that came in an almost infinite variety reflecting the inventors' choice of materials, web patterns, and details for connecting the members. Sherman, who haled from Galena, Ohio, claimed in his patent that "the construction and parts of this bridge are extremely simple, cheap, and as such require no skilled mechanics in bridge-building to erect." Although once common in the late 19th century, these type of short-span, composite pony truss bridges have all but virtually disappeared from the American landscape. The bridge has lost original fabric and is no longer functioning as intended, but retains sufficient original materials, including the iron hardware, to convey its technological significance as a very rare survival.

Justification

The bridge is rare example of a composite design and has high significance. It is also a rare design.

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: Yes