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Key Facts |
| Bridge Name | Facility Carried / Feature Intersected | Location | Structure Type | Construction Date / Builder or Contractor |
| Pearl Street Bridge | Pearl Street Over Grand River | Grand Rapids: Kent County, Michigan | Concrete Deck Arch, Stationary | 1922 By: Koss Construction Company of Des Moines, Iowa |
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Technical Facts |
| Alteration Date | Structure Length | Roadway Width | Main Spans | Approach Spans |
| 1983 | 484 Feet (147.5 Meters) | 49 Feet (15 Meters) | 5 | 1 Concrete Culvert (Pedestrian Access Tunnel) |
Grand Rapids has a beautiful downtown downtown area, with a developed area of skyscrapers and other downtown buildings along the impressive Grand River, Michigan's longest river. There are a number of historic bridges spanning this river in the downtown area, and they play a major role in forming the beauty and interest in the downtown area. The Pearl Street Bridge is one of those bridges. Its graceful arch spans provide a nice contrast to the intricate complexity of the nearby truss bridge also spanning the river. The bridges have lights on their superstructures to outline their distinctive shapes during the night.
This is (or was, depending on your view of the bridge as discussed in the next section) the third longest concrete arch bridge in Michigan, with the Belle Isle Bridge being in first place. Here in Grand Rapids, this bridge is one of two downtown historic arch bridges, the other being Fulton Street Bridge, which is the second longest arch in Michigan. Both of them have experienced significant alterations that affected their historic integrity. Most notable is the railings, which are not original. The loss of the original railings on these bridge is most unfortunate. It would be nice at some point to see a restoration that would replace these modern railings with something that respects the original design of the bridge. The Pearl Street Bridge has a number of plaques mounted on the western end of the northern guardrails. A plaque lists Westcott Engineering Company of Chicago, Illinois for designing the structure. This company may have designed the Fulton Street Bridge as well, although whether this is true or not is unconfirmed.
The Pearl Street Bridge is actually no longer an arch bridge. Take a close look under the bridge, and you will see that all but the outermost parts of the arch bridge were removed, and modern concrete beams replaced them. This bridge is essentially a modern bridge with a historic arch facade. As such, the bridge has limited historic value. On the other hand, the bridge still retains its historic appearance and still lends attractive architecture to downtown Grand Rapids. The modifications done to this bridge do not represent a "best practice" for restoration, but do represent a good compromise when the demands for retaining a historic structure compete with a need for an efficient non-weight-restricted crossing. It is an better alternative to outright demolition to be sure!
