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Okemos Road Northbound Bridge

Okemos Camelback Bridge

   

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Bridge Documented: 2006, 2010, 2011

Primary Photographer(s): Nathan Holth

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Key Facts

	Bridge Name	Facility Carried / Feature Intersected	Location	Structure Type	Construction Date and Builder/Engineer
	Okemos Road Northbound Bridge Okemos Camelback Bridge	Okemos Road Northbound Over Red Cedar River	Okemos: Ingham County, Michigan	Concrete 90 Foot Plan Curved Chord Through Girder, Fixed	1924 By Builder/Contractor: Wolverine Engineering Company of Mason, Michigan and Engineer/Design: Michigan State Highway Department

Technical Facts

Rehabilitation Date	Main Span Length	Structure Length	Roadway Width	Main Spans	NBI Number
2000	90 Feet (27.4 Meters)	90 Feet (27.4 Meters)	20 Feet (6.1 Meters)	1	33200082000B010

View Archived National Bridge Inventory Report - Has Additional Details and Evaluation

Learn about Michigan's Unique Concrete Camelback Bridges

About This Bridge

This beautiful and extremely important historic bridge is one of the few rehabilitated examples of this beautiful, unique, and nationally significant structure type that is indigenous to Michigan. Because the bridge has been preserved, the bridge remains in good condition today. The rehabilitation was carried out in good taste and as such the historic significance has not been diminished. This particular example is also one of only two surviving concrete camelback bridges in Michigan to include a cantilevered sidewalk and is the only one with a sidewalk not currently threatened with demolition. The concrete camelback bridges tended to be built in rural locations, which is why few have a sidewalk. Although all of Michigan's surviving camelback bridges should be considered to have a high level of historic and technological significance, this example has added rarity because of its sidewalk, and also stands out as a rare 90 foot span example. It is also noteworthy for its 45 degree skew.

This bridge serves one-way northbound traffic with a 1950s era steel stringer bridge next door carrying the southbound direction of traffic. While not particularly significant from a historical standpoint, the southbound bridge is an attractive companion bridge on account of its retaining Michigan's signature "Type R4" railings. While this "one-way couplet" of bridges was likely created in the 1950s out of a sense of economy rather that historic preservation, these two bridges do clearly demonstrate a technique that can be applied to historic bridges found to be too narrow for the traffic they serve, where a new bridge is built to carry one direction of traffic.

The Okemos Road camelback bridge appears to have been recognized by the local community as the historic landmark it is. A sign welcoming northbound vehicles to downtown Okemos includes a graphic with the bridge at the center of the design. Also, in November 2010, Meridian Township Downtown Development Authority was investigating nominating the bridge for a formal listing in the National Register of Historic Places. While this bridge is already considered "officially historic" by the historic bridge inventory, a formal listing often carries greater weight in the eyes of newspapers and the general public, who may not realize that an eligible finding in a state historic bridge inventory is equivalent to a formal listing in the National Register in terms of available preservation funding and any federal protections such as Section 106.

Moving forward it will be important to ensure that the protective coat of sealant that has been placed on the bridge is maintained to ensure that this bridge remains in good condition. Aesthetically, it would be worth considering the removal of graffiti on the bridge followed by an application of an anti-graffiti coating.

Michigan's Concrete Camelback Bridges

All of Michigan's surviving curved chord through girders should be considered historically and technologically significant. The bridges are historically significant because they represent a unique and innovative design developed by the Michigan State Highway Department in its earlier years of bridge construction.

The bridges should be considered technologically significant as well. By incorporating a curve into the design, Michigan State Highway Department not only increased the efficiency of the design, they also greatly increased the aesthetic value of the bridges. The graceful curves of this bridge type, complemented by architectural details such as inset rectangles and pierced openings, make them among the most aesthetically pleasing of bridge types ever encountered. Straight chord through girder bridges are generally considered among the more plain and less visually appealing types of historic bridges. The aesthetic qualities of the curved girder bridge, those qualities being an integral and functional part of the bridge and not a decorative facade, should be considered to be a technologically significant feat: an extremely effective union of function and form.

Also, the 90 foot plan concrete camelbacks, including the Okemos Road Bridge are all noteworthy on a national level because they are among the longest spans seen in concrete through girders throughout the country. They represented the maximum potential of the bridge type, which had a short life because it was limited as a practical structure type in terms of span length and deck width. Most concrete through girders (including the small number of curved chord examples outside Michigan) throughout the country appear to have been limited to no more than 60 feet. With their 90 foot spans, Michigan's 90 foot plan concrete camelbacks push beyond this number considerably.

Statewide, very few examples of this bridge type have been preserved or have evidence of a preservation commitment. Further, the number of examples of this bridge type have been dropping rapidly over the years. Considering that in recent years, Michigan has begun to emerge as a leader in truss bridge preservation, it is reasonable to consider concrete camelback bridges to be the most threatened type of historic bridge in Michigan.

The bridge type has become rare through attrition in Michigan, and the rarity of the bridges today only adds to the significance of those remaining examples.

Photos and Videos: Okemos Road Northbound Bridge

Available Photo Galleries and Videos

Click on a thumbnail or gallery name below to visit that particular photo gallery. If videos are available, click on a video name to view and/or download that particular video.

 

	Bridge Photo-Documentation	A collection of overview and detail photos. This photo gallery contains a combination of Original / Full Sized photos and Mobile/Smartphone Optimized (Reduced Size) photos. Alternatively, view this photo gallery using a popup slideshow viewer by clicking the link below. Browse Gallery With Popup Viewer
	Walking On Sidewalk Full Motion Video	Streaming video of the bridge. Also includes a higher quality downloadable video for greater clarity or offline viewing.
	1 1/2 Minute Documentary Full Motion Video	This is essentially a short video with narration that follows the main narrative for this bridge. It is intended as an experimental demo or technology demonstration, the first of its kind on this website. Streaming video of the bridge. Also includes a higher quality downloadable video for greater clarity or offline viewing.

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