Bach Driveway Bridges

Note: This photo is a zoomed view looking south. I will refer to these bridges as the northern and southern bridges.

This Bridge is in Danger!

I am unsure why MDOT does not include these bridges on the website, since they feature a couple other bridges in the state that are on private property. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that these bridges were never on a public road at any time. Nevertheless, these are two very historically significant bridges. This is the shortest form of a Pratt truss you can get, as two panels. Original lattice guardrails adorn both bridges. Perhaps the most significant feature of these bridges are the intact plaques, which is unheard of for pony trusses in Michigan. Interestingly, the plaques are different on each bridge. One lists some county road commissioners, and the other lists builders and a date of 1905. Wynkoop and McGormley were the agents of the Toledo Massillon Bridge Co who marketed bridges, including this bridge with the 1905 plaque, in Michigan. A close inspection reveals that the two bridges are not quite identical, supporting my unscientific theory that no two truss bridges are the same. The bottom chord on the southern bridge, which is the Massillon Toledo bridge, is made up of eye-bars, whereas the northern one is composed of steel channels. Perhaps the northern bridge was built a year before or after, accounting for the differences in the bridge. The deck is gone from the northern bridge. The northern bridge appears to have been built to provide access to the farmlands. The southern bridge retains most of its wooden deck, and it appears to have originally provided access to a house, which is no longer around.