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Sulpher Heights Hill Road Bridge

River Road Bridge

   

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Bridge Documented: May 5, 2006

Primary Photographer(s): Nathan Holth

This Bridge No Longer Exists!

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Key Facts

	Bridge Name	Facility Carried / Feature Intersected	Location	Structure Type	Construction Date and Builder/Engineer
X	Sulpher Heights Hill Road Bridge River Road Bridge	Sulpher Heights Hill Road (River Road) Over Great Miami River	Rural: Shelby County, Ohio	Metal 9 Panel Pin-Connected Pratt Through Truss, Fixed	1886 By Builder/Contractor: Morse Bridge Company of Youngstown, Ohio

Technical Facts

Rehabilitation Date	Main Span Length	Structure Length	Roadway Width	Main Spans	NBI Number
1982	114 Feet (34.7 Meters)	233 Feet (71 Meters)	17.4 Feet (5.3 Meters)	2	7539967

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

This historic bridge was demolished and replaced in 2007!

This bridge is a two span pin connected Pratt through truss bridge. Each span has nine panels to it. There is v-lacing on the vertical members of the bridge. A Carnegie brand was located on the members of the bridge. The deck of the bridge is currently a corrugated steel base with an asphalt wearing surface. The portal bracing on the bridge is a plate steel design with decorative punchout designs in it. The abutments for the bridge were stone, but the pier was stone with a bunch of concrete added to it.

This bridge was one of two rare Morse Bridge Company bridges in Shelby County, the other on Johnson Slagle Road.

Bridges built by the Morse Bridge Company that survive today, of which there are very few, are noteworthy because some of their bridges, displayed several unusual design details. All of their bridges, including the Sulpher Heights Hill Road Bridge were distinguished by ornamental details that varied from bridge to bridge, much moreso than was found in bridges built by other companies during this period. Among the surviving examples that HistoricBridges.org has documented, there is amazing variety in the decorative details. This bridge has an interesting shield-shaped plaque, and the unusual knee bracing.

In 2007, Shelby County with little preamble or notice to the historic bridge community abruptly demolished and replaced this and the Johnson Slagle Road Bridge and with one stroke annihilated a large percentage of surviving Morse Bridge Company Bridges. The loss of these bridges cannot be corrected through any amount of preservation elsewhere, since each Morse Bridge Company bridge was quite unique, and no more exist in the county. Neither of these bridges needed to be replaced, and could likely have been rehabilitated for less than the cost of their replacement. To lose one of these two bridges would have been devastating, but words fail to describe the loss of both of them, in the same year no less. It is hard to fathom how little appreciation one would have for a county's heritage to demolish these bridges.

This bridge was next to another bridge that was a historic 1933 three span deck plate girder bridge. It also was demolished and replaced.

Photos and Videos: Sulpher Heights Hill Road Bridge

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	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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