Backyard Adventures

BACKYARD ADVENTURES 2015 Pike Publishing 19 When construction of a bowstring truss bridge across the Patoka River on the Sulphur Springs and Augusta Road began in late 1875, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and 300 men of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment were six months away from their famous encounter with 5,000 Lakota, Chey- enne and Arapaho led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at Little Big Horn. Almost 140 years later, the Pike County Commission is planning to relocate the bridge – officially designated Bridge 150, but which is known locally as the "Iron Bridge" – to the current site of the Charger Bridge near the intersection of Hwy. 57 and Hwy. 56 (across from McDonald's) in Petersburg after being awarded almost $1.8 million in Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Bridge funds. "It's an old iron bridge that the county wanted to replace with a new bridge and they wanted to tear that down," then Petersburg Mayor Frank Coleman told members of the city's Board of Public Works and Safety in February. "Well, they found out it's an historical bridge and they cannot tear that bridge down." Coleman said that county officials had con- tacted him to get his thoughts on their plans to disassemble the Iron Bridge, refurbish it, and relocate it at the current site of the Charger Bridge. "They could not get funding to restore the Charger Bridge," Coleman said. "They tried that before, trying to get grants. So the Charger Bridge will be torn down, and this historical bridge ... will be brought and put in its place after they restore it." Coleman said that the Iron Bridge, when relocated, would only be used for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. "And the neat thing is it ties right into our fitness trail," Coleman said. "I think they just wanted the city to bless that effort and be in support of it. We don't have a lot of say in it since the county's over the bridges. But they want to preserve it and they want us to be okay with it." "I like the idea," council member John Melhiser said. "It'll give the city a little more historical value." The Iron Bridge was built by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio, with Wil- liam T. Washer of Troy, Ind., as the on-site contractor for the substructure and bridge construction. According to a report issued by historic bridge expert James L. Cooper in Septem- ber 2013, the Iron Bridge is the only surviv- ing example of the Smith Bridge Company's "Open Arch" Bridge design in Indiana, and possibly in the United States as well. Cooper's report also notes that Washer was considered a "celebrated contractor and bridge-builder" across southwestern Indiana and in north-central and northwest Ken- tucky in the last quarter of the 19th century. "He has been best remembered in covered bridge circles," Cooper wrote. "But even the dean of Hoosier covered bridge history, George Gould, reported that 'little is known about William T. Washer, except for the covered bridges he built in southwestern Indiana.'" According to the website historicbridges. org, the Iron Bridge is "extremely signifi- cant" not only for possibly being the last sur- viving example of a bowstring truss bridge built by the Smith Bridge Company, but for its "distinctive details" which distinguish it from other bowstring truss bridges built by other companies. "The most noteworthy detail of this bowstring is its unusual top chord which is composed of back-to-back angles which corrugation running between them," the website states. "A similar detail is found on the beams under the deck that support the outriggers." "Because of the unusual composition of the top chord, unique cast iron connection assemblies were used to form the top chord connections," the website continues. "These castings are located between the channels and are riveted to the channels. These as- semblies have holes that allow the vertical and diagonal members to make a connection with the top chord via the threaded rod and nut method. Threaded rod and nut connec- tions were common during this period." The remainder of the bowstring truss bridge, the website notes, is more tradi- tional. "Cast iron connection assemblies are located along the bottom chord, and the bottom chord is composed of plates with eyebars where pin-connected splices occur," the website states. "Vertical members and outriggers use the cruciform beams or "star iron" that was common in the 1870s and on bowstring truss bridges." According to Cooper's report, construc- tion of the Iron Bridge was to be completed by January 1876. In December 1875, Washer received a partial payment of $1,000 for work on the Patoka River bridge. In March 1876, the same month Alexan- der Graham Bell made the first successful telephone call, Washer received another partial payment of $120 plus $2,943.50 as the "balance (of ) compensation for build- ing an Iron Bridge across Patoka River per contract." According to Cooper, the bowstring truss bridge quickly became a notable Marion township monument. "In June 1877, for example, when resi- dents petitioned for a change in the road carrying the bridge, they had already infor- mally renamed the Sulpher Springs and Au- gusta Road as 'the Iron Bridge and Augusta Road,'" Cooper wrote. "The commissioners also kept a close watch on the bowstring. In August 1889, they ordered the Marion township trustee to give notice to the parties who built a dam across the Patoka River 'at the iron bridge in said township' to remove same or suit would be brought by the county 'so that the dam will not damage said bridge or its abutments.'" According to a bridge reinspection report for Pike County issued in 1980, the county's consulting engineers considered the Iron Bridge "a unique structure of historical importance." Cooper agreed with their assessment. "The significance of the Patoka River iron bridge extends well beyond nineteenth-cen- tury Pike County, Indiana," Cooper wrote. In addition, Cooper notes that the Iron Bridge was determined "SELECT" in a statewide historic bridge inventory con- ducted in 2010. The Iron Bridge, according to Cooper, has survived due to repairs and rehabilitations undertaken since its erection, including in December 1908, when county officials con- tracted with John Survant to refloor it. A major rehabilitation occurred in 1978 when the original stone abutments were en- cased in concrete, some rolled steel string- ers added, and more external sway braces welded on. "The county also built a timber structure above steel beams seated on raised abut- ment ledges," Cooper wrote. "Placed inside and somewhat above the old iron superstruc- ture, the new one reduced the roadway to a width of 10 feet and 2 inches." Cooper noted that it was not surprising the Iron Bridge presented issues for con- temporary traffic and that county officials wanted to replace it "for vehicular use." "The best preservation alternative would be to remove the whole assemblage from the Patoka River, recycle the 1978 additions, repair the original cast and wrought iron, relocate the superstructure to an appropri- ate pedestrian trail location, and rebuild the timber deck and roadway to the original specifications," Cooper wrote. "The old superstructure restored to original strength should meet A ASHTO standards for pedestrian loading," Cooper's report concludes. "And, without modern add-ons, the superstructure will fully display the special and rare Smith Bridge Company design, originally erected by the once highly respected builder, William T. Washer." In letters dated Feb. 3, 2014, Russell A. Fowler, Vincennes District Deputy Com- missioner for the Indiana Department of Transportation, informed Pike County Com- missioners Assistant Melissa Bryant that Pike County had been awarded $1,189,400 in FHWA Bridge Funds "for the replacement of bridge 150 and rehabilitation of CR650E" and $ 604,000 in FHWA Bridge funds "for the relocation of Bridge 150." The FWHA funds, which are adminis- tered by the Indiana Department of Trans- portation, may be used for funding up to 80 percent of the total cost of the projects. Pike County must submit 20 percent of the projects' total cost – approximately $448,350 – before a notice to proceed can be issued. According to the letters, the actual year in which the federal reimbursement funds will be available for construction is the state's 2017 fiscal year. direCtions to the Current loCation oF the iron bridge From Petersburg: Take IN-61 south to Winslow. Turn right onto East Lafayette Street. Follow East Lafayette Street to intersection with CR 475 East. Turn right and follow CR 475 East to intersection with Buster Branch Road. Turn right and follow Buster Branch Road to inter- section with CR 200 South. Turn right and follow County Road 200 South to intersection with South CR 650 East. Continue straight on South CR 650 East to Patoka River. a historic bridge is Moving to A NEW HOME STORY AND PHOTOS BY ED CAHILL I R O N B R I D G E

• Cover