Bell Road Bridge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bell Road Bridge |
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Bridge on land in overgrown brush in 2010
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| Coordinates | 42°24′05″N 83°54′31″W / 42.4015°N 83.9086°W |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 103 feet 6 inches (31.55 m) |
| Width | 13 feet 5 inches (4.09 m) |
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Bell Road Bridge
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| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Built | 1891 |
| NRHP reference No. | 96001380 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 29, 1996 |
The Bell Road Bridge is a Pratt through truss bridge in Dexter Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan. Built in 1891, the bridge carried Bell Road over the Huron River. Since 1997, the bridge has sat on the riverbank, overgrown with brush. The bridge is a Michigan State Historic Site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
History
The bridge was built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, in 1891. A local crew assembled it with iron connecting pins, a method unique to the nineteenth century. The bridge was at the site of the town of Dover, a mill town of which little currently remains.
The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1996. It is the third oldest known bridge built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company still in existence. It also one of about ten metal through truss bridges in Michigan that date from the nineteenth century.
By 1997, the abutments were in such poor condition that it was feared that the bridge would be washed away in a spring flood, so it was removed from its abutments and placed on the southeastern riverbank. Since it was moved to the riverbank, the bridge has become overgrown with brush. On June 17, 1997, it was designated a Michigan State Historic Site and an informational marker was erected on February 2, 1999. Because of the bridge's deteriorated state, its National Register of Historic Places plaque is located not on the bridge, but in the garage of resident Bill Klinke.
On February 17, 2015, Dexter Township relinquished its right of first refusal to keep ownership of the bridge, allowing another municipality interested in relocating and rehabbing it for pedestrian use along the Border to Border trail to claim it.
Design
The bridge is a single-span, one lane Pratt through truss. It is 103 feet 6 inches (31.55 m) long and 13 feet 5 inches (4.09 m) wide. Its abutments are made of fieldstone. Prior to removal from its abutments, the bridge carried Bell Road over the Huron River.
