ADDITIONS TO 2009 KING BRIDGE COMPANY UPDATE
Allan King Sloan -December, 2009
Since we last posted the update to the King Bridge Company website in September, there have been some notable happenings which are reported below:
THE BEAR TAVERN ROAD BRIDGE – HOPEWELL NEW JERSEY – IN DANGER !!
We have cited this bridge, built by the King Bridge Company in 1882, as an example of an old structure which has been upgraded in place to continue to serve local traffic. It was so described in the paper we presented at the Historic Bridge Conference in Columbus, Ohio in April of 2008. Well, apparently this situation has changed dramatically. Citing safety concerns, the old bridge was closed to traffic last summer by the local authorities even though it was fixed up relatively recently and plans are in the works to replace it with a new concrete bridge close by. This has the local historical and preservation-minded community up in arms. They would like to keep in bridge as it is and limit heavy traffic, for it now serves as a “traffic calmer” on an historic road in the community, significant as the route George Washington’s army took after crossing the Delaware River on their way to the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War. The bridge stands where the American soldiers crossed Jacob’s Creek in 1776. This adds importance to the bridge, the oldest iron bridge in Mercer County, and has stimulated an energetic debate in the local community, many of whom do not want to have Bear Tavern Road turned into a major traffic artery, mainly to serve one nearby industrial plant. With the new bridge in place, the old King bridge would be moved to a site in a nearby park if the replacement scheme is implemented. This is a classic example of the battles pontists are facing all over in efforts to save important old bridges. We will try to keep abreast of developments.
THE MCDOWELL BOWSTRING – POWESHIEK COUNTY, IOWA – LOOKING TO BE PRESERVED
We received an email in October from Julie Bowers who is organizing a group of local citizens to try to save this old King bowstring, now owned by the county, from demolition. This is an 1883 bowstring crossing the Skunk River and was abandoned in 1986 and was documented by HAER in 1996. It has many interesting engineering features, including its old tripod supports and now serves on a trail through the Millgrove Access Wildlife Area. Julie and her group are now connected to the PONTIST network coordinated by Eric Delony, including Rose Rohr of the Jones County Historic Preservation Commission who led the highly successful effort to relocate the Hale Bridge to the state park in nearby Anamosa (see the PRESERVATION Section for details), Vern Messler, one of the nation’s leading experts in historic bridge restoration, and Nathan Holth, the creator of a leading web site featuring historic bridges (http://www.historicbridges.com) which currently features an excellent and thorough description and history of this important bridge. See also (www.bowstringbridge.intuitwebsites.com) and Julie’s blog at (http://srbowstring.blogspot.com). We wish Julie and her group well in this important effort.
THE POWDER MILL RAILROAD BRIDGE, MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS – A NEW FIND
We received another email from Kim Harvey in October telling us of a new find – a King built railroad bridge in East Alton built in 1916 on a spur line of the Kansas City Southern Railway that is still in place and used only occasionally. There are great pictures of this bridge by Kim Harvey on James Baughn’s Bridge Hunter web site (http://www.bridgehunter.com/il/madison/powder-mill-railroad)
There are still a number of old King bridges on railroad lines like this that are slightly used but apparently out of harms way, at least temporarily. The call for their removal is much more muted than their highway contemporaries.
THE YELLOW CREEK BRIDGE – BEDFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
The Althouse family sent us an email in October stating that the state, county and local authorities are in the process of purchasing additional rights-of-way and construction easements for the rehabilitation of this 1884 King high truss bridge in Hopewell Township. Work is scheduled to begin in the Spring of 2010. (See the special report on Pennsylvania bridges in the REGIONS section for more details.)
A MYSTERY BOWSTRING – ANY IDEAS??
Nathan Holth sent us this beautiful old photo of a bowstring that might very well be a King. Its location and status are mysteries and any ideas are welcome!!
THE KING BRIDGE AT THE GREEN FARMS RESORT – FALLS OF ROUGH, KENTUCKY
Photographer Adam Paris informed us that he has more pictures of the 1877 King bridge at the Green Farms resort which is now on the web site. We will post Adam’s pictures when they arrive.
A 1907 KING BRIDGE IN MILFORD, MICHIGAN
Richard Doane of Milford tells us of a bridge in the town having three King Bridge Company plates. We will post pictures when obtained.
OTHER ITEMS
| THE ELEVATED RAILWAY AT SOUIX CITY, IOWA – A note from neroute2@gmail.com points out that the subtitle on the second page of the article on the Sioux City El written by B. Paul Chicione may be misleading since there were other elevated railways in the mid-west including in Kansas City. Thanks for the info. |
| THE BOOK ON THE HISTORY OF THE VETERAN’S MEMORIAL BRIDGE IN CLEVELAND by Bill Beyer is now in circulation and should be a must for the library of any serious pontist. Contact Bill Barrow at the Special Collection Department at Cleveland State University for more information. |
