Cooke Road Bridge

Information and Findings From Ohio's Historic Bridge Inventory

Setting/Context

The bridge carries a 1 lane road over a stream in a rural area of active farms.

Physical Description

The 1 span, 52'-long and 15'-wide concrete arch bridge uses bent 52-pound rail placed on 2' centers as the reinforcing, in imitation of the Melan system. The flat, thin shape of the arch was preferred by the fabricator. The bridge is finished with wrought iron railings set atop the curbs. The railings have impact damage. There is considerable spalling of the cement past leaving exposed and lost aggregate, but only limited exposed reinforcing.

Integrity

Significant loss of original fabric from deterioration, but there appears to be sufficient cover material to have protected the steel beams. The iron railings are original.

Summary of Significance

The 1896 steel and concrete arch bridge was built by the Buckeye Portland Cement Co. (est. 1888), the first Portland cement maker in the state, and is very much in the tradition of the Melan-type arch rather than the design using reinforcing bars that came to dominate the bridge type early in the 20th century. Here 56-pound rails are bent into the elongated elliptical shape and placed on 2' centers to provide the reinforcing, then packed with Buckeye's Portland cement to provide cover material for the steel. This short version of a Melan arch was designed by William H. Pratt (1852-1900) who was the general manager of the Mount Vernon Bridge Company from 1888 until 1898. He was also an early proponent of monolithic concrete bridges (as opposed to stone). Under his leadership, the company grew into a prominent national fabricator of metal bridges. A native of Vermont, he married Elizabeth Devin of Mount Vernon woman and is buried locally. This bridge represents the era of experimentation that surrounded the introduction of "armed" concrete in this country. The bridge is the second oldest example of a "reinforced concrete" arch in the state.

Melan arches were introduced during the early period of development of reinforced-concrete technology and were built in the U.S. from the mid 1890s to early 1910s. Although eventually surpassed by the use of the Ransome-system of twisted, deformed reinforcing bars, they are considered significant in the evolution of the technology. The bridge was designed by Fritz Von Emperger of the Melan Arch Construction Co., the leading American promoter of the technology, which was imported from Europe. The Melan design was used in Ohio for long span arch bridges into the 1920s, particularly in Dayton.

The eligible recommendation of the prior inventory remains appropriate.

Justification

The bridge is one of the earliest "reinforced concrete" bridges in the country. It has national significance. It merits extraordinary measures and consideration for its preservation.

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: Yes