Jeddo Road Mill Creek Bridge

Most Recent Visit To Bridge: Fall/Winter 2006

Key Facts

Bridge Name	Facility Carried / Feature Intersected	Location	Structure Type	Construction Date / Builder or Contractor
Jeddo Road Mill Creek Bridge	Jeddo Road Over Mill Creek	Rural: St. Clair County, Michigan	Metal Stringer, Stationary	1939 By: Marshall Campbell of Port Huron, Michigan

Technical Facts

Structure Length	Deck Width	Main Spans	Approach Spans
74 Feet (22.5 Meters)	20 Feet (6.1 Meters)	2	None

This bridge may not be the most attractive bridge ever built, but it is a Depression-related structure, and is significant as a result. It also retains excellent historic integrity. The beams were painted fairly recently, suggesting that the county does not intend to replace this bridge any time soon. The bridge is two-span with a concrete pier and concrete abutments. Illinois steel stamps are visible on the bridge. MDOT mentions another bridge was built around the time of this bridge, the Comstock Road Bridge.

Information and Findings From MDOT

MDOT Historic Bridge Shiawassee County Jeddo Rd. / S. Branch Mill Creek The Jeddo Road Bridge is eligible for the National Register as a well-documented example of Depression-era county bridge construction.

Plates on the southwest and northeast ends of the bridge list the members of the board of the St. Clair County Road Commission (John Watson, chair; F.W. Moore; F.W. Andreae), as well as the county engineer (Ken K. Goeltz) and the county bridge engineer (B.L. Parker). The plate identifies the bridge as "No. S-494-2-2.0," and indicates that the bridge was erected in 1939 by contractor Marshall Campbell of Port Huron, the county seat.

The bridge replaced "an old steel span having [a] 12-foot roadway, and about 5 tons carrying capacity," according to an article in Michigan Roads and Construction on the road commission's activities in 1939. The article also contained a photograph of the new bridge. An entry in the road commission's proceedings reports that Campbell was awarded the construction contract for $9,855 on 25 May 1939.

Plans and specifications for the structure were prepared "by our bridge engineer," Ben L. Parker. Parker was presumably also responsible for the design of a similar structure, the Comstock Road Bridge over Eves Drain, which was also built in 1939 but does not have as good integrity.

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