SAYING GOOD-BYE to the SPRING HILL BRIDGE :
The bridge over Middle River on Hwy 57 just south of Spring Hill will be replaced. It was erected in 1911 so it is almost 100 years old. It cost $3,500 to build. The structure is comprised of a long-span, pinned Parker through truss, supported by timber pile bents and approached by steel stringer spans on both ends. The truss has remained structurally unaltered - although the original cylinder piers have been replaced with timber pile bents.
The Spring Hill Bridge is technologically significant as a well-preserved example of an uncommon structural type. Pin-connected Pratt trusses were built by the thousand throughout Iowa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Pinned Parker trusses - a polygonal-chorded Pratt variant-such as the Spring Hill Bridge, were typically used for long-span crossings and were built far less often, fewer than ten remain in place today on Iowa's road system.
SAYING GOOD-BYE to the SPRING HILL BRIDGE :
We included this photo and the following article in our latest News Letter. We have been corrected by local residents with long memories. Apparently the Spring Hill Middle River Bridge of 1947 fell victim to the "Floods of 47" as did many other bridges in Warren County. The consensus is that this bridge was built in 1948. We are seeking more information on this bridge so we can correct our mistakes in the article. If you have some insight or facts about this bridge please forward them to us.
