Ames Creek Bridge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Ames Creek Bridge
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 Location in Iowa
Location in the United States
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| Location | 300th St. over Ames Creek DeWitt, Iowa |
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| Built | 1912 |
| Architect | Clinton County Engineer |
| Architectural style | concrete through girder bridge |
| MPS | Highway Bridges of Iowa MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 98000802 |
| Added to NRHP | March 19, 1981 |
The Ames Creek Bridge is a historic bridge located near DeWitt, Iowa, in Clinton County. It's an important example of how concrete bridges were designed a long time ago. This was before there were official rules for building them. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, which means it's a special place worth protecting.
Building the Ames Creek Bridge
The Ames Creek Bridge was designed by the engineer for Clinton County. In 1912, the Clinton County Board of Supervisors hired J.R. Kane, a builder from Charlotte, Iowa, to construct the bridge.
The bridge was finished in the same year, 1912. It cost $2,154 to build, which was a significant amount of money back then!
About the Bridge's Design
This bridge is a special type called a concrete through girder bridge. It is about 37 feet (11 meters) long and 16 feet (5 meters) wide. The bridge has very little decoration.
It was built using 11,000 pounds (about 5,000 kg) of steel for strength. It also used 157 cubic yards of concrete. The parts of the bridge that support it, called abutments and wing walls, needed a lot of digging to prepare.
What makes this bridge even more interesting is that it was built just one year before the Iowa State Highway Commission started creating standard plans for bridges. This means it's a great example of early bridge building methods.
