| Key Facts |
| Bridge Name | Facility Carried / Feature Intersected | Location | Structure Type | Construction Date / Builder or Contractor |
| Mottville Bridge | US-12 (Old Alignment) Over St. Joseph River | Mottville: St. Joseph County, Michigan | Concrete 90 Foot Plan Curved Chord Through Girder, Stationary | 1922 By: Smith and Nichols |
| Technical Facts |
| Structure Length | Main Span Length | Main Spans | Approach Spans |
| 270 Feet (82.3 Meters) | 90 Feet (27.4 Meters) | 3 | None |
If you had to pick one of all the examples of this bridge type to preserve this would certainly be the one, and indeed this priceless structure was preserved. This does not mean that the rest can be town down like is currently being done however! The Mottville Bridge is the longest concrete camelback in the United States... these bridges were only built with frequency in Michigan so each remaining bridge has national significance.
MDOT did build a new bridge for vehicles next to this bridge, but they also restored the old bridge and left it standing for its historic value and also for the use of non-motorized traffic. Michigan's solution of both building a new bridge and leaving the old one standing is a win-win situation. In this case, everybody is happy.
Information and Findings From MDOT
The bridge is a two hundred and seventy foot long, reinforced concrete, camelback-arch bridge composed of three ninety foot long and twenty-two foot wide spans resting on concrete piers and abutments. The bridge is constructed using massive concrete reinforced steel girders, providing the structure with its distinctive arches. The interior of each arch is pierced with five openings occurring above a series of paired, recessed panels, which provided a decorative effect complementing the bridge's sweeping concrete arches. The Mottville Bridge is the largest surviving reinforced concrete camelback bridge in Michigan. It was built according to a standardized plan provided by the Michigan State Highway Department in 1922. |
