|
Key Facts |
Bridge Name | Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| Kemner Road Bridge | Truss | Kemner Road | Wood County, OH | Rural | South Branch Portage River |
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Technical Facts |
|
Construction Date |
Rehabilitation Date |
Structure Length | Roadway Width | Builder |
| Unknown (Pre-1900) | 1940 | 90.88 Feet | 14.12 Feet | Canton Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio |
Wood County provides Ohio with a localized taste of Pennsylvania style historic bridge management. What is this unique style characterized by? Rampant demolition, of course! Wood County once had one of the richest truss bridge inventories in Ohio, and today it has very few truss bridges. It is from a great failure both from how roads and bridges are managed by the government at all levels, and also a lack of fairness from the historic community when creating historic preservation funds. This failure that occurs is partly the fault of the historic community, the state and federal levels of government. But failures at these levels do not excuse the county itself. The county also plays a role in deciding their destiny. Calhoun County in Michigan for instance chose not only to save their own bridges, but many from out of the county through the creation of Historic Bridge Park. That is one county shouldering the cultural responsibility of multiple counties. And Wood County on the other hand could not even manage its own possessions. In blaming higher levels of government, the ability of the county to decide its fate should not be ignored. Wood County and its highway engineers should be ashamed of themselves.
On that note, I would like to express my deep anger and frustration that I was unable to photograph and detail the unique construction of this unique historic bridge. A rare two span example of a camelback pony truss. Pony truss bridges are hard enough to find multi-span but to find a multi-span camelback bridge, at least in this area of the country, is unheard of. Rick McOmber provided me with this photo of the bridge that he was able to get prior to demolition.
With all that in mind, a sensible look at the Kemner Road Bridge can be made. This is actually what I would call an ornate bridge, since it features a number of decorative elements that do not occur on the average truss bridge. There are decorative curved steel elements that terminate the guardrails at each end of the bridge. There are decorative finials on top of the end posts. And finally, even the relatively basic a-frame portal bracing has a decorative edging on the top section.
Structurally, the bridge is a pin connected Pratt through truss, and is composed of six panels. There is v-lacing under the top chord/end post and also on the vertical members. There are roller bearings at the east of of the bridge, which sits on stone abutments. The deck is wood with an asphalt wearing surface. Very little paint remains on the rusted structure. An eight ton weight limit was posted prior to the closure of this bridge to traffic.
Considering what Wood County has done with the rest of its bridges, there is no reason to believe that this bridge will be preserved. It almost certainly is headed for the dumpster. I suppose I would be a fool to suggest that perhaps a restoration of this bridge might be the way to go.
