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Key Facts |
Bridge Name |
Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| 27 Mile Bridge | Truss | 27 Mile Road | Macomb County, MI | Rural | Clinton River Branch |
When I wrote to Macomb County to get a list of their truss bridges, they reported that had three truss bridges, Card Road Bridge, 27 Mile Bridge, and 28 Mile Bridge. All three were pony trusses, and were closed to traffic. All three are in very poor condition and are in danger of collapsing. This is the 27 Mile Bridge. The Michigan Historic Bridge Inventory gives a date of 1910 for the construction of this bridge.
The 27 Mile Bridge is a traditionally designed Pratt pony truss, but is nevertheless very interesting. V-lacing is present on the vertical members of the bridge. The connections are pinned.
The condition of this bridge was very similar to the nearby 28 Mile Bridge, only a bit worse. The 27 Mile Bridge has decayed severely, so bad that some actual parts were missing. Other parts were barely holding together by very small amounts of steel. This bridge appeared to have been repaired long ago, with the addition of large i-beams below the original i-beams below the bridge. Based on the condition of the original i-beams, I think that if the newer i-beams were not present, this bridge would not be here today. Also, parts of the deck were missing in spots. Unlike the 28 Mile Bridge, which felt solid as a person walked across the bridge, (which was, granted, more rigid with riveted connections) the 27 Mile bridge seemed to sway and move just quite a bit, more than you would expect from a standard pin connected bridge. Perhaps the rust has broken the strength of some of the bracing for this bridge.
I think that this bridge should have been preserved years ago, however, the bridge has decayed so much that I do not know how anyone could restore this bridge. I am not sure how this bridge even holds itself up!
This bridge is slated for demolition, as Macomb County continues to reopen roads that have been closed for decades. This is in response to increased traffic due to urban sprawl from Detroit. It is rather disgusting. Because the city of Detroit can't clean up its own city, people have moved out of town, and now Macomb County is being wrecked as well, as heritage structures such as this one are lost forever.
