2007 FALL ADDENDUM
Since the original 2007 update was prepared in June, there has been additional progress on three important preservation projects, a new King Bridge sighting in Illinois, and some additional bridge information coming into our website from different sources.
For anyone interested in preservation of historic bridges, Pat Sparks article on the subject in the Spring 2007 edition of “Bridge News” published by the Historic Bridge Foundation should be high on the must read list. It is an excellent summary of the situations and issues involved in preservation efforts.
The 8th Historic Bridge Conference will be held in Columbus, Ohio on April 28-29, 2008. Contact Professor Hojjat Adeli (adeli.1@osu.edu) for details.
PRESERVATION PROGRAMS
The Grasse River Bowstring – Canton, New York – Varick Chittenden of the Grasse River Heritage sent the following photograph of the first step in the rehabilitation of this bridge; its removal so that the piers and abutments can be rebuilt and the structure repaired. According to Peter Van Der Water, the President of GRH, the work is scheduled to be completed toward the end of the year.
The Black Warrior (Espy) Bridge – Northport, Alabama – Ken Willis of the the Friends of Historic Northport reports that the Engineering Department of the University of Alabama will be playing a major role in the effort to relocate the 1882 King bowstring to a walking trail near its original site on the Black Warrior River. Check out the news on the University website
The Yellow Creek Bridge – Bedford County, Pennsylvania – In the wake of the Minneapolis bridge disaster, the Altoona (Pennsylvania) Mirror ran a story in their August 26, 2007 edition about the effort to rehabilitate this King built Pratt Truss in Hopewell Township. Local engineer Joe Lehman Jr. is leading the effort to undertake this rehabilitation project which is estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $1.4 million and take a few years to complete.
The 1880 King Lift Bridge in Piermont, New York – We received information that Rockland County has a project that was sent out to bid on Sept. 20th, 2007 for the rehabilitation of this unique lift bridge. The project is being supervised by the engineering firm of Bergmann Associates, Albany, NY. Updated information to follow.
The Danville-Mickles (Petit Jean) Bowstring, Yell County, Arkansas – Randall Houp, a local historian and bridge enthusiast, has been organizing meetings of local supporters to plan how this 1880 bowstring could be rehabilitated. It is pictured below with Randall standing on the beam. He can be contacted at ghostbridgehunter@yahoo.com.
Randall also sent us the following photograph of another King bowstring in Crawford County which met its end in the flood of 1957.
NEW SIGHTINGS
In his continual search for old bridges, Jim Stewart has found another King bridge that has heretofore escaped our attention. It is the Stone Quarry Bridge built in 1883 across the Embarras River in Coles County, Illinois near Charleston. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
The waymarking website also has some great pictures of the Lockport New York Deck Truss (the up-side-down bridge) built in 1902 by the King Bridge Company for the New York Central and still in use.
Nathan Holth has brought to our attention the existence of the Montreal River C&NW Railroad Bridge located on the border of Michigan and Wisconsin near Ironwood, Michigan. It was built by the King Bridge Company in 1911 and still stands on the abandoned rail line.
