Haybridge Road Bridge

Hay! There's a Bridge on Haybridge Road! Ok, so the spelling isn't right, but it was still funny. Half the time a road that has "bridge" in its name has only a modern slab bridge on it. This was not the case here! I found this 1912 half-hip Pratt pony truss with pinned connections. The bridge is composed of four panels yielding a total bridge length of 54 feet. Original lattice railings are present on the bridge. Despite the bridge's relatively late 1912 construction, the bridge features a beefy version of a v-lacing style seen on older, lighter weight bridges like Raymond Road Bridge. The bridge sits on steel caissons, which are integrated into a protective steel abutment-like backing that serves to hold the dirt in place around the approach to the bridge. The river crossing is a swampy one here, which may account for the unusual support system.

This truss bridge was amazingly still open to traffic at a three ton weight limit when I visited. Southwestern Michigan, in particular St. Joseph, Branch and Calhoun County, as of January 2006, all seemed to have more open truss bridges than other areas of Michigan.