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108th Street Bridge

   

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Bridge Documented: September 3, 2009

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
	108th Street Bridge	108th Street Over Thornapple River	Rural: Barry County, Michigan and Kent County, Michigan	Metal Stringer (Multi-Beam), Fixed	1932 By Builder/Contractor: Willits Brothers Construction Company of Bay City, Michigan and Engineer/Design: Michigan State Highway Department

Technical Facts

Main Span Length	Structure Length	Roadway Width	Main Spans	NBI Number
74.8 Feet (22.8 Meters)	150 Feet (45.7 Meters)	40 Feet (12.2 Meters)	2	41306H00001B010

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

This bridge appears to be one of Michigan's most important metal stringer bridges, although the historic bridge inventory apparently did not recognize its significance. This appears to be one of the oldest examples of a bridge with original R4 railings in the state, and is also an example of a bridge which was either a transitional bridge or a prototype bridge as the state highway department moved from one standard plan to a new standard plan for stringer bridges. The old plan included stringers with a unique concrete balustrade design and a concrete facade over the outermost stringer to give the bridge an overall appearance of a concrete bridge when it was in face a steel stringer. This plan was abandoned for the new plan which did not include the concrete facade on any beams, and began the use of R4 railings. Most of the other earliest instances of bridges with original R4 railings on them are dated to around 1935, while the last of the concrete facade and balustrade stringers date to 1932 or earlier. The 108th Avenue Bridge, with a construction date of 1932, features the R4 railings, but also features the general pier design and concrete facade seen in the concrete balustrade plan bridges of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The R4 railings on 108th Avenue were determined to be original (and not a later alteration/addition) because the inset design on their concrete railing is the oldest design. If the railings were not original they would have more than likely featured the more common keyhole design on the concrete railing posts. In addition no alteration to the bridge is recorded or was observed during on-site inspection.

As such, the 108th Avenue Bridge appears to be an extremely rare bridge which shows a transition from a bridge like Cleveland Avenue Bridge to bridges like the US-41 Sturgeon River Bridge.

R4 railings are the decorative railings that would give the gift of beauty to Michigan stringer bridges until the 1960s. For roughly 30 years, Michigan used these railing panels, fitted between railing post designs that varied over time and from bridge to bridge between a few different styles. The R4 railing has defined much of Michigan's 20th century historic bridges.

Photos and Videos: 108th Street 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 Original / Full Size Photos	A collection of overview and detail photos. For the best visual immersion and full detail, or for use as a desktop background, this gallery presents the photos for this bridge in the original digital camera resolution.
	Bridge Photo-Documentation Mobile Optimized Gallery	A collection of overview and detail photos. View the photos for this bridge in a reduced size which is useful for mobile/smartphone users, modem (dial-up) users, or those who do not wish to wait for the longer download times of the full-size photos. Alternatively, view this photo gallery using a popup slideshow viewer (great for mobile users) by clicking the link below. Browse Gallery With Popup Viewer

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