CR-1450 West Bridge

Information and Findings From DHPA Historic Bridge Survey

Bridge History and Significance

Exactly when Greene County contracted with the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, to fabricate this pin-connected Pratt through-truss span remains a mystery wrapped in the absence of the "Commissioners Record" for most of the 1880s and 1890s when the Ohio company was most active. Fortunately, a nameplate (removed sometime after 1980) identified the builder. Although residents used the road between Linton and Pleasantville in Sullivan County as early as the 1870s, this may have been the first structure at the road's crossing of Black Creek. The Jake Garrett Bridge in Stafford township was among the eleven bridges for which specifications for repair were ordered in May 1924. In August, the Vincennnes Bridge Company secured the contract for all these repairs. Seated upon metal caissons now supplemented with concrete webwalls. The 100-ft. span is subdivided into seven panels by hip verticals made from 1.25-in. round rod, loop-welded below and passing through the top chord-endpost cast iron connectors to bolt above. The intermediate verticals were made from a pair of laced channels (@5 in. for the outer; @ 6 in. for the inner). The outer diagonals consist of a pair of 1.12-in. square rods, loop-welded below and passing through and bolting above the top chord-endpost cast connectors. For the next set of diagonals, WIBCo used 15/16-in. square rods. The company relied for the diagonals and counters of the center panel on a pair each of .75-in. round rod with turnbuckles. Each panel adjacent to center also has a single .75-in. round-rod counter. All the diagonals and counters are loop-welded. Braced, double-latticed portal struts and intermediate struts of crafted I's attached to the upper pins help to stiffen the trusses against sway. U-bolted to the lower pins, rectangular girder floor-beams support steel I-beam stringers which together carry the timber deck and its 16-ft. roadway and 12 feet and 6 inches of vertical clearance. The rails which once lined the trusses are now gone. This nineteenth-century bridge contains a number of the special elements which the Wrought Iron Bridge Company characteristically designed and built into its spans. The trusses retain their original members, including decoratively latticed portals and portal bracing. The railings are gone, and the stringers are probably replacements. NRE & NON-SELECT References Butler, Fairman & Seufert, Inc., Bridge Inspection Report: Greene County (Indianapolis, 1974). M.W., Inc., Bridge Reinspection Report: Greene County (Indianapolis, 1978). United Consulting Engineers, Inc., Bridge Reinspection Report: Greene County (Indianapolis, 1981). bridge nameplate. (removed after 1980). Greene County, "Commissioners Docket," 17: 187-189, 194.

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: Yes (Non-Select)