Johnson Street Bridge

Visit Historic Bridges of the Midwest's Page For This Historic Bridge

I am sorry to report that this is not the most impressive truss bridge out there, but it is all that the city of Elkhart has, unfortunately. Indiana Bridge Inventory reports a 1918 construction date for this bridge, although this bridge really does not look like a bridge from this time. The lack of any v-lacing or lattice on this bridge makes it look like a 1950s or newer bridge. The Indiana Bridge Inventory mentioned a 1981 "rehabilitation date." Rehabilitation isn't really what happened... what happened was a slaughtering of any historic integrity it may have had. I first saw this bridge from the east side, which is mostly unaffected. I just about fainted when I saw the other side... I thought I had suddenly been transported to another bridge: check out the other side. The bridge has had concrete beams added to the west side to widen the bridge. The result is that the east side looks like a brand new slab bridge, almost completely hides the trusses. Obviously, doing this is better than demolishing the entire bridge, for both historic and economical reasons, but with a bridge that lacks v-lacing and lattice, it would not be difficult to add trusses using modern steel i-beams and keep the overall appearance of the bridge the same. The truss part of this bridge is a three span warren deck truss. Piers on the bridge are steel as well. Photographs are hard to get for this bridge because the truss side is right next to a dam which is all fenced off. I wish they had added the concrete to the dam side, as viewing for the new side of the bridge was much easier to view, with park facilities present.