Big Hill Road Bridge

Visit MDOT's Page For This Historic Bridge

During my inspection of pony truss bridges in Michigan, I have found that half-hip Pratt pony trusses are more common than standard Pratt. This pony truss is one of those classic pin connected Pratt pony trusses, and is a very aesthetically pleasing bridge. It includes a large top chord, probably due to its decent length, and v-lacing under the top chord and on the vertical members, Lattice guardrails remain on this bridge. This bridge is actually open to traffic with a three ton weight limit. The deck is concrete, and originally had corrugated steel under the concrete, which has either been removed or has fallen off. Faint traces of silvery-grey paint remain on parts of the bridge. Steel on the bridge is from the Cambria Steel mills, as the stampings indicate. Eye-bars on the bottom chord are of the looped variety. The bridge is composed of five panels. The structure has experienced some rusting in the bottom connections, and rust is pushing up parts of the cover plate for the top chord. This bridge is crosses the river in a small river valley with reasonably steep sides. Interesting zoom photos can be had from the top edge of the valley.