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Below are some King Bridge and possible King Bridges that have been brought to our attention by various folks, historians, pontists, bridge lovers, preservationists. If you have any information or photos about these bridges, please let us know so we can try to complete the information. We've included some rough coordinates if you'd like to check them out!
1. 1886: Wells Bridge, NY: 2-span Pratt through truss 2. 1902: Doane, PA: 7 panel Pratt through truss, Stony Fork Rd. 3. 1879: Jay, NY: , Rolling Hill Mill Bridge, closed in 1987 4. 1897: Augusta, MT: Dearborn R. High Bridge over Dearborn R. 160' half-deck Pratt. 5. 1886: Allegan,MI: 2nd St Bridge over Kalamazoo R. , 150' Double Intersection Pratt 6. 1872: Chanute,KA: Austin Bridge, Neosho R, 4mi S of St rt39, 160' iron bowstring 7. 1907: Westfield,MA RR TPG (+2 side sps over sidewalks), Main St. 8. 1880: Butternuts (Gilbertsville), NY: Green St over Dunderberg Ck, 3 pan Pratt pony, laced end posts! Thanks to Steven Schwartz at Ironbridge Systems, Inc. for these "Sightings" above
9. Lost 1879 King Iron bridge, Van Meter, IA. Dale C.
Wilson writes: "I forgot what I was researching
that "linked me" to this site... This brought back memories of a long gone
bridge just North of Van Meter (Dallas County) Iowa. Even in my childhood I
was intrigued and drawn to old things, and history. I _never_ would have
dreamed that I would find more info on King... Isn't the web Fabulous!
This bridge crossed the Racoon River, was
painted black and I think you'd call it "rectangular truss" (not sure).
Definitely not a Bowstring... I think it had 3 sections. One lane of
traffic, it was part of my everyday school bus route. One day, a bad (or
drunk) driver hit the bridge (end of section) and we had to do a major
detour... I remember being somewhat upset in that someone had damaged it.
We moved away from Van Meter, Summer of 76 and
I naively figured the bridge was safe... I thought "It'll be 100 years old
in just 3 yrs... They'll respect that..." They didn't..
I think it's 100th year was the year of it
demise. The real problem wasn't the bridge, but the route... Just South of
the bridge, a steep road embankment on the river was a continual challenge
for the local road crews... It kept washing out. They essentially closed
the road and rerouted it to a new UGLY concrete bridge that they installed
1/2 mile or so upstream of the old one. They could have (and should have)
left the old one for walkers and fisherman... And for it's beauty.... But
it's gone. I'm sure the plaques adorn someone's dusty garage shelves...
Thanks Dale for this "reminiscence" of the old Van Meter bridge!
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