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Key Facts |
Bridge Name | Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| Smith Road Bridge | Truss | Smith Road | Preble County, OH | Rural | Four Mile Creek |
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Technical Facts |
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Construction Date |
Structure Length | Roadway Width | Builder |
| 1955 | 83 Feet | 16.1 Feet | Champion Bridge Company of Wilmington, OH |
This bridge is one of a number of unusual pony truss bridges built by the Champion Bridge Company in Preble County well after the truss bridge era had come to a close. Anyone who has traveled Ohio for any period of time has undoubted found that modern "welded connection" metal truss bridges are built on roads today, often replacing historic metal truss bridges. Composed completely of i-beams, these bridges at first glance seem to be those welded mocker-of-a-truss-bridge structures. However a closer inspection, which will reveal riveted connections, riveted railings, and builder plaques will quickly prove otherwise. These bridges offer a lot more to look at than a 21st century truss bridge. On the other hand, they lack considerable value when compared to older truss bridges like the Fairhaven Bridge.
The 1950s and 1960s were the final home run of a transition from aesthetic bridge design to "purely functional" bridge design, where the "art" in bridge building came to a close thus ending a tradition of beauty in bridges. As a result, this bridge, with a 1955 construction date, represents the end of this transition. While it still has aesthetic value, mainly in the old-fashioned rivets and railings, it is quite plain, with its i-beams. Although the construction of this bridge is more traditional, with a box-shaped top chord, this bolted connection bridge in Ontario also represents this time period as well.
Preble County has a number of these unusual mid-20th century truss bridges remaining in the county. This is the oldest of them, with the somewhat unimpressive date of 1955. This bridge is also the second largest example of these bridges, with a length of 83 feet. The only other one longer is the Wesler Road Bridge, but it is actually the newest of the Preble County examples, with a 1964 construction date. As a result, I would consider the Smith Road Bridge the most historically significant of all the other Champion Bridge Company bridges in Preble County. While I would like to see all of them maintained, if I had to pick just one to preserve, this would be the one.
This bridge has a simple name plaque attached to the top chord, in addition to the standard plaques on the end posts. None of the other Champion Bridge Co. bridges in Preble County had this top chord plaque. This may be because this is an older bridge, and they were still putting these plaques on back then.
