Dinkey Creek Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 37°04′02″N119°09′14″W / 37.0672°N 119.1539°W |
Crosses | Dinkey Creek |
Locale | Off Dinkey Creek Rd. Sierra National Forest Fresno County, California |
Characteristics | |
Longest span | 90 feet (27 m) |
History | |
Designer | T.K. May |
Construction end | 1938 |
Closed | 1965 (to automobiles) |
Dinkey Creek Bridge | |
NRHP reference No. | 96000911 [1] |
Added to NRHP | September 5, 1996 |
Location | |
The Dinkey Creek Bridge, also known as Fresno County Bridge No. 42C-04, [lower-alpha 1] is a single-span, timber bowstring arch truss bridge that crosses Dinkey Creek in Fresno County, California, within Sierra National Forest. Built in 1938, it closed to automobile traffic in 1965 and was renovated in 1988 to replace rotting timbers. Designed by T.K. May, it was built by the U.S. Forest Service with Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor. The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
The construction of the Dinkey Creek Bridge was part of a wider effort to improve access to recreation and timber resources in the area. [3] The bridge was designed by engineer T.K. "Tank" May. [4] The concrete abutments were designed by the Fresno County Surveyor in June 1938, and construction on the bridge completed that year. [5] [lower-alpha 2] Designed as a highway bridge to carry McKinley Grove Road, it was built by the U.S. Forest Service with Civilian Conservation Corps labor. [7] The Colletti Construction Company of San Rafael cut the timber and test assembled it, before disassembling it and shipping it to the site to be erected by a CCC crew. [5]
The name "Dinkey" comes from a dog by that name, which is applied to the bridge, creek, lake, meadow, and nearby mountain. Two stories of the origin of the name are noted, in which the dog was either injured or killed in an altercation with a bear, after which the area was named "Dinkey". [8]
In 1956, a new steel bridge was built about 0.35 miles (0.56 km) downstream. [7] [9] In 1965, the Dinkey Creek Bridge closed to automobile traffic because of wood rot; it has served as a pedestrian bridge since then. [7] By 1988, the rot was becoming significant, so the untreated decking, wheel guards, railings, and longitudinal stringers were replaced with preservative-treated components of the same dimensions and material. [10] [11] The renovation also included the construction of a concrete wall in the creek upstream of the west abutment to resist erosion. [10] The bridge was nominated for inclusion in National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C for its engineering significance; it was listed on September 5, 1996. [9] [12]
On April 13, 2023 the City of Fresno, which runs the adjacent Camp Fresno, reported the bridge has collapsed after a heavy snow season. [13]
The bridge is within the Sierra National Forest at about 5,680 feet (1,730 m) above sea level. [2] [7] It spans Dinkey Creek in a wooded valley about 42 miles (68 km) east of Fresno, California. [7] The bridge's single span is 90 feet (27 m) long and the roadway is 20 feet (6.1 m) wide. The bridge has a Pratt truss arrangement, with the diagonal members angling inwards. The structure's bowstring-arch design, while relatively common in roof trusses, is rare in bridges. May believed it to be the only such bridge in California at the time of its construction, and a Caltrans inventory of potentially historic bridges, completed in 1987, found no such structures. [7]
The abutments are made of unreinforced Portland cement concrete in the Cyclopean style. As wet cement was poured in the form, cobblestones were added by hand; the technique was common when cement was relatively expensive compared to labor. The bridge itself was built of Douglas fir, with the truss treated with creosote preservative and the deck left untreated. [5] The structure was designed for assembly by unskilled workmen with hand tools to take advantage of nearby CCC labor. [10] A model of the bridge was made by May for display at the U.S. Forestry Laboratory in Richmond, California, at the request of the West Coast Lumberman's Association, because of its unique design. [7]
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. There are several types of truss bridges, including some with simple designs that were among the first bridges designed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A truss bridge is economical to construct primarily because it uses materials efficiently.
The Big Creek Bridge is a bowstring arch bridge that spans Big Creek on U.S. Route 101 in Lane County, Oregon. It was designed by Conde McCullough and opened in 1931.
Fallasburg Bridge is a 100-foot (30 m) span Brown truss covered bridge, erected in 1871 in Vergennes Township, Michigan, United States, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Lowell on the Flat River. Carrying Covered Bridge Road across the Flat, it is located in the Fallasburg Historical District south of Whites Bridge and Smyrna. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and along with Whites Bridge, Langley Covered Bridge, and Zehnder's Holz Brucke, is one of only four Michigan covered bridges open to vehicle traffic.
The Hares Hill Road Bridge is a single-span, wrought iron, bowstring-shaped lattice girder bridge. It was built in 1869 by Moseley Iron Bridge and Roof Company and is the only known surviving example of this kind. The bridge spans French Creek, a Pennsylvania Scenic River.
The Susitna River Bridge, also known as the Gold Creek Bridge, was the longest bridge span on the United States Government Railway in Alaska. The steel 504-ft. through-truss channel spans the Susitna River. It was completed in February, 1921. The crossing of the Susitna includes two 121-ft. combination Howe truss flanking spans and two 70-ft. combination pony Howe truss end spans, with 392 ft. of trestle at the southern approach and 28 ft. at the northern approach, making a total length of 1,322 ft. It is located 150 miles north of Anchorage, and 264 miles north of the terminus at Seward. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Chevelon Creek Bridge is a historic road bridge located about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Winslow, in Navajo County, eastern Arizona, United States. It is a steel Warren Pony truss bridge over Chevelon Creek, built on the first permanent road connecting Holbrook, the seat of Navajo County, and Winslow. When built, the road was regionally important in northern Arizona as well as being a segment of an early national highway at the time automobile traffic was growing and national roads were first being formed. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 for being a rare design in Arizona, part of an early transnational roadway, one of the first bridges built by Arizona after statehood in 1912, and being in nearly original condition.
The Albion River Bridge is a wooden deck truss bridge crossing the Albion River in Mendocino County, California. It is the only remaining wooden bridge on California State Route 1; dramatic views of the bridge are visible from the nearby town of Albion, California. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in July 2017.
The Whipple Cast and Wrought Iron Bowstring Truss Bridge, is located near the entrance to Stevens Farm in southwestern Albany, New York, United States. It was built in 1867, but not moved to its present location until 1899. It is one of the oldest surviving iron bridges in the county, one of the few that use both cast and wrought iron and one of only two surviving examples of the Whipple bowstring truss type. In 1971 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the only bridge in the city of Albany so far to be listed individually.
The Clinton Falls Bridge, also known as the Old Mill Bridge and formally as Bridge L-5573, is a historic steel Pratt through truss bridge that spans the Straight River in Clinton Falls Township, Minnesota. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 as Bridge No. L-5573 for having local significance in the theme of engineering. It was nominated for being an example of early steel truss bridge design in Minnesota.
The Hillsboro Covered Bridge, known locally as the "Hillsboro-Grange City Covered Bridge", spans Fox Creek in Fleming County adjacent to Kentucky Route 111, 13.6 miles (21.9 km) southeast of Flemingsburg, Kentucky. Probably built in the late 1860s, it was discontinued in 1968 when it was replaced fifty yards (46 m) upstream by a concrete bridge.
The Ringos Mill Covered Bridge spans Fox Creek in Fleming County, Kentucky, in a single 90-foot span. It was named for a grist mill situated 50 yards downstream.
The Old US 41–Backwater Creek Bridge is a bridge located on an abandoned section of US Highway 41 (US 41) over Backwater Creek in Baraga Township, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
The Indian Creek Bridge is a wrought iron bridge, built about 1880 to the east of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The bridge crosses a tributary of the Cedar River in Linn County. It was designed and built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company (WIBCO) of Canton, Ohio as an eight-panel pin-connected through truss in an unusual double-intersection Pratt design.
The Waterman Covered Bridge was an historic covered bridge in Johnson, Vermont that carried Waterman Road across Waterman Creek. Built in 1868, it was one of three surviving 19th-century bridges in the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and collapsed in January 1982.
Imbil Railway Bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge over Yabba Creek, Imbil, Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built circa 1915 by Queensland Railways to facilitate settlement in the Mary River Valley. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 14 October 2011.
The Powell Bridge is a National Register of Historic Places site that crosses Big Sugar Creek near the community of Powell, Missouri, a rural hamlet in McDonald County, Missouri in the Ozark Mountains region. The bridge was built by the East St. Louis Bridge Co. and was opened to traffic on August 16, 1915. The single-lane pin-connected Pratt through truss was open to vehicular traffic from 1915 until a new two-lane bridge was built and opened beside it in 2015. It is currently owned by the Powell Historic Preservation Society and is one of three sites in McDonald County on the National Register of Historic Places, which also includes the Old McDonald County Courthouse. The community of Powell itself is best known as the home of famed gospel writer Albert E. Brumley.
The Gilliece Bridge was a historic structure located west of Bluffton, Iowa, United States. It spanned the Upper Iowa River for 151 feet (46 m). In 1872 Winneshiek County started to replace its older short span timber and stone bridges. This Bowstring through arch-truss bridge was designed, fabricated, and built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio in 1874 for $6,969.47. Thomas Dwyer, a local stonemason, built the masonry abutments. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The bridge was destroyed in May 2017 by an overweight truck which was driven onto it despite the posted weight limit of three tons.
Bridge 12 is a historic Parker through truss bridge, carrying Boston Post Road across the Missisquoi River in Enosburg, Vermont. Built in 1929 in the wake of Vermont's devastating 1927 floods, it is one a shrinking number of surviving truss bridges on the river. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
The Gillespie Dam Bridge is a through truss bridge spanning the Gila River in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. The bridge was constructed to bypass a concrete apron through the river in front of the Gillespie Dam, which was often closed due to flooding. Construction of the bridge started in 1925 and completed in 1927. From its opening until 1956, the bridge was part of U.S. Route 80 (US 80), a transcontinental highway between San Diego, California and Tybee Island, Georgia. The bridge was restored in 2012 by Maricopa County for the Arizona Centennial and now includes an educational interpretive center for visitors. The bridge became part of Historic US 80 in 2018.
The Glennies Creek Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge that carries the Rixs Creek-Falbrook Road across the Glennies Creek, located at Middle Falbrook, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge was designed by Ernest de Burgh and built in 1902-03 by William Murphy and James Taylor. The property is owned by Transport for NSW. The bridge was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 June 2000.