| Key Facts |
| Bridge Name | Facility Carried / Feature Intersected | Location | Structure Type | Construction Date / Builder or Contractor |
| Fergus Road Fairchild Creek Bridge | Fergus Road Over Fairchild Creek | Rural: Saginaw County, Michigan | Concrete Through Girder, Stationary | 1928 By: Dyer Brothers |
| Technical Facts |
| Rehabilitation Date | Structure Length | Roadway Width | Main Spans | Approach Spans |
| 1935 | 38 Feet (11.5 Meters) | 22 Feet (6.7 Meters) | 1 | None |
This bridge is an outstanding example of a structure type in Michigan that is becoming increasingly rare. This bridge is a single span concrete through girder. With minimal spalling, this bridge retains a high degree of historic integrity. The only modification of note, which could cause problems later, is a layer of asphalt added to the deck. This may improve the riding quality for the bridge but often inhibits water drainage, causing more rapid deterioration. The county should not have done this, in my opinion. If riding quality was the issue, consider that modern bridges often have awful bumps at each end, where the asphalt meets a concrete deck.
This bridge was built in 1928 by the Saginaw County Road Commission as a State Reward Bridge, according to the plaque on the bridge. The contractor for the bridge was Dyer Brothers. Oddly, the town from where these contractors hailed is not listed on the plaque.
These bridges, considered utilitarian in their time, show how even something a simple bridge design like this was made aesthetic though the shaping of the girders. Certainly these qualities could have been included in bridges built in the past 20 years. In some cases stampings have been put on modern bridges, but most of these are quite minimal when compared to the bridge they replaced, or even to a bridge such as this one.
It is unclear what repairs were made in 1935 to this bridge, a mere seven years after the bridge's completion.
