|
Key Facts |
Bridge Name |
Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| Ball Road Bridge | Truss | Ball Road | Midland County, MI | Rural | Little Salt Creek |
This is the only bedstead truss that I have seen in Michigan to date. Like the bowstring truss, these were one of the weaker truss bridge types, and so have all but disappeared. A bedstead truss has end posts that reach below the lower chord of the bridge and double as supports for the bridge. MDOT mentions on their page that this bridge type was vulnerable to flood damage. This is easy to imagine, since if anything hits the truss support, it would affect the integrity of the whole bridge. The Ball Road Bridge does in fact have one support that appears to be bent from something in the water hitting it. The bottom of the steel truss supports on the Ball Road Bridge are not as durable also due to the fact that they have rusted severely, most likely because of the supports having more water around them than the top of the bridge.
The bridge has cobblestone abutments. The vertical members of the bridge are a unique lattice design, and are quite interesting. The end posts are v-laced and are similar to vertical members found on larger truss bridges. This highlights the light-weight nature of the bridge, since end posts and top chords are considerably larger than members on a bridge. The structure is pin connected. The deck is wood, and has rotted severely, so use caution if you visit this bridge. The deck i-beams appear seem very tiny to me - this bridge must have never been designed to handle much weight. It is easy to imagine that this bridge was deigned primarily for horse and buggy traffic, and perhaps the occasional Model T.
If this bridge could be preserved somehow, I sure wish it would be. Bedstead truss bridges are very rare, and at least one example should be preserved. This bridge could easily reside in a park somewhere. Its small size would make moving it easy.
