|
Key Facts |
Bridge Name | Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| Factory Road Bridge | Truss | Factory Road | Preble County, OH | Rural | Lesley Run |
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Technical Facts |
|
Construction Date |
Structure Length | Roadway Width | |
| 1914 | 55 Feet | 15.8 Feet |
Steel on the bridge was fabricated by Carnegie as well as Jones and Laughlin, according to stamps on the bridge. The vertical members are lightweight latticed members. Original lattice railings remain on the bridge. The bridge sits on stone abutments. The deck is wood with an asphalt wearing surface. Eyebars on the bridge are of the loop-forged variety. A couple turnbuckles were replaced on the bridge. The bridge was posted for a 28 ton weight limit when I visited it. While the bridge is certainly strong enough to serve local traffic, and with a restoration could continue to do that and more for decades to come, as it is, the bridge has some structural problems in my opinion. The fact that I could wiggle the northern truss back and forth slightly might be a cause for concern! I am not mentioning this to argue for demolition of this bridge. Rather, I am suggesting that the time for a restoration has come. A quaint little bridge like this deserves to be restored, and due to its small size I doubt it would be too expensive. At the very least, they could set this bridge on top of steel beams as they did with the Junction Road Bridge.
Preble County wants to deal with the structural problems by demolishing the bridge. This is idiocy in the most blatant form, and represents an unwillingness by the county to meet its obligation to make Preble County a place of heritage and culture, and an enjoyable place for residents and visitors alike. The fact that the county has preserved wooden covered bridges, yet is seeking to demolish metal truss bridges, represents one of the core corruptions that my website seeks to expose. Is a wooden open-ended garage-over-a-river more deserving of preservation than an intricate pin connected through truss? I think not. But time and time again the wooden covered bridges are preserved while the truss bridges fall. Oddly enough, truss bridges are more durable and strong when properly maintained as well.
