133rd Avenue Bridge

This bridge has been moved and restored, and now resides in Historic Bridge Park.

Visit HABS HAER's Page For This Historic Bridge.

Original Location Key Facts

Bridge Name	Facility Carried / Feature Intersected	Location	Structure Type	Construction Date / Builder or Contractor
133rd Avenue Bridge	133rd Avenue Over Rabbit River	Rural: Allegan County, Michigan	Metal Pinned Pratt Half-Hip Pony Truss, Stationary	1897 By: Michigan Bridge Company

Current Location Key Facts

Bridge Name	Facility Carried / Feature Intersected	Location	Structure Type	Construction Date / Builder or Contractor
133rd Avenue Bridge	Bridge Park Trail Over Dickinson Creek	Rural: Calhoun County, Michigan	Metal Pinned Pratt Half-Hip Pony Truss, Stationary	1897 By: Michigan Bridge Company

Technical Facts

Structure Length	Deck Width	Main Spans	Approach Spans
64 Feet (19.5 Meters)	14 Feet (4.3 Meters)	1	None

This bridge was the first bridge to be placed in Calhoun County's Historic Bridge Park. It is a half-hip Pratt pony truss. It is composed of four panels making up a 64 foot bridge. The width of the deck is 14 feet. The bridge was built in 1897 by the Michigan Bridge Company. It features pinned connections, and has v-lacing on the verticals and under the top chord. There are a number of remaining half-hip pony truss bridges left in Michigan, although few are preserved, and most are abandoned. The preservation of this bridge is important because it is a representative example of a once-common type of bridge that is quickly disappearing.

Information and Findings From MDOT

The following description credited to Elaine Davis.

Formerly spanning the Rabbit River in Hopkins Township, Allegan County,Michigan, the bridge is known today as the 133rd Avenue Bridge. It was built in 1897 by the Michigan Bridge Company of Portland, Michigan,owned by Samuel S. Ramsey and his son, Claude. In 1993, the bridge was considered unable to support vehicular traffic and was closed while the county scheduled the bridge for replacement.

It is a small bridge – only 64 feet long – and for a span of 96 years,it carried farm residents over the river on its single span.  The road was laid out between the times of publication of two plat maps, 1873 and 1895, to carry farm traffic to and from connecting roads to the rural schools and churches, to markets in nearby small towns such as Hopkins and Hilliards and to the L.S.M.S. railroad depot at Hopkins Station.

The Rabbit River is shallow where 133rd Avenue crosses, and perhaps in the early years travelers forded the river. As the demand for good roads year around increased, and as heavy steam traction equipment came into use for harvesting, the need for a strong bridge grew.  High water in January 1897 washed out the small bridge there. In late April, 1897, the Hopkins Township board let the contract for the iron bridge to the Michigan Bridge Co. for $715.

The technical description for the 133rd Ave. Bridge is a four-panel half-hip pin-connected Pratt steel truss, 64feet long, with a 14 foot roadway. It was removed from Allegan County in 1998 to the Calhoun County Road Commission shop where it was repaired, cleaned and repainted. Then it was re-erected in the Calhoun County Historic Bridge Park in 1999, to serve as a pedestrian bridge, and it has the honor of being the first bridge placed in the park.   It is expected to be good for another hundred years!

Visit MDOT's Historic Bridge Website