|
Key Facts |
Bridge Name | Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| Junction Road Pony Truss Bridge | Truss | Junction Road | Preble County, OH | Rural | 4 Mile Creek East Fork |
|
Technical Facts |
|
Construction Date |
Structure Length | Roadway Width | Builder |
| Unknown (Pre-1900) | 62 Feet | 15.75 Feet | Indianapolis Bridge Company of Muncie, IN |
This bridge crosses East Fork Four Mile Creek, according to my maps. However, the Ohio Historic Bridge Inventory listed the stream as Hopewell Creek. I am only mentioning this because perhaps East Fork Four Mile Creek is called Hopewell Creek on some maps.
Why Preble County can preserve the more significant Junction Road Bowstring Bridge but they plan on demolishing this historic metal truss bridge is beyond me. They stuck beams under the bowstring bridge, so the truss isn't actually functional anymore, but it still looks awesome. There is no reason why they can't do it here. Why waste money on building a modern two-lane bridge on a road with low volumes of traffic on a corridor that already has a preserved one-lane bridge on it?
This bridge is a four panel pin connected half-hip Pratt pony truss bridge. It retains original lattice railings. V-lacing is present on the vertical members. I located a Jones and Laughlin steel stamp on the bridge. The bridge sits on concrete abutments. The deck is wooden with an asphalt wearing surface. The bridge retains good historic integrity, however on the eastern half of the southern truss, steel was bolted to the inside of the top chord on the bridge, resulting in the only major modification that I noted on the bridge. I am unsure why this was done on only one part of the bridge. Perhaps a tree fell on it or a car damaged the bridge at one time?
