Alton Bridge

Information and Findings From DHPA Historic Bridge Survey

Statement of Significance

In October 1889, A. W. Peckinpaugh and John L. Hollcroft volunteered $500 "to assist in building bridge opposite the northeast end of Cherry Street in Peckinpaugh's Addition to the town of Alton." The dimensions of the proposed bridge were 150 feet in length with a 12-foot roadway. The notation mentions 50-foot approach spans also with 12-foot roadways; the auditor was ordered to advertise for bids. The record does not indicate what became of the bids, if any. Six years later there was a petition for a bridge "near the mouth of the Little Blue River" presented to the Board in September 1895. A contract, dated January 1897, was awarded to the Lafayette Bridge Company for the sum of $7,300.00 for a superstructure and a price of $4.75 per cubic yard for the masonry work. The dimensions given, it appears for all the spans, were 420 feet in length with a roadway width of 14 feet. - John Warner, M&H The five Pratt spans of this 410', pin-connected structure rest upon a series of metal piers and cut stone abutments and wingwalls. A 139'4" through span of eight panels is at the structure's core. Each of its intermediate verticals was made from a pair of laced channels, its diagonal sets from a pair of die-forged eyebars, and its counters (3 most central panels) of single, adjustable, and cylindrical rods. Replacement I floor-beams are U-bolted to the lower pins. The bridge carries a timber deck with a 14'10" roadway and 18 feet of vertical clearance. Four full-hip Pratt ponies--three to the west and one to the east--flank the through span. Each approach span extends 67'9" in four panels. The verticals of each truss are fabricated from two pairs of laced angles, their diagonals of a pair of die-forged eyebars, and the central panels' counters of single, adjustable, and cylindrical rods. New I floor-beams are U-bolted to the lower pins. Except for the full-hip design of the ponies, the trusses are rather conventionally made. The structure's length adds considerably to the bridge's significance. The substructure has been refurbished and the floor-beams & deck replaced. The main members of these undecorated trusses are, however, still original and functional. References AECON, Inc., Bridge Inventory and Inspection Report: Crawford County (Nashville, 1973). Simpson Engineering Corp., Bridge Reinspection Report: Crawford County (Indianapolis, 1980). WTH Engineering, Crawford County Bridge Reinspection Report (Indianapolis, 2001).

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: Yes