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The Bridges of Clinton County The former Bauer Road Bridge now resides in Calhoun County, arriving from its original home in Watertown Township. Following is a listing of Clinton County bridges, provided by the Clinton County Road Commission. In following weeks, the Indy will begin a "bridge tour" series featuring photographs of the Bridges of Clinton County as they appear today.
Bauer Road Bridge
Maple Rapids Road Bridge
Jones Road Bridge
Grange Road Bridge City/Township: Dallas Twp. Location: Grange Rd. / Stoney Creek Year Built: 1916 About this Bridge: This long-span concrete bridge carries Grange Road over Stoney Creek in rural Dallas Township. Constructed in 1923-24, the structure is comprised of a single, 90-foot concrete through girder span, with arched ribs that rest on angled concrete brackets cantilevered from the concrete abutments. A series of concrete floor beams span between the two girders; these are cast integrally with the 20-foot-wide concrete deck. The arched girders feature typical MSHD detailing, with corbeled bulkheads and spandrel walls punctuated by five small arched cutouts aligned over a series of arched recessed panels. Bronze "State Reward Bridge" plates are affixed to the tops of the bulkheads. Other than the installation of Armco guardrails at the approaches, the Grange Road Bridge is unaltered. The Michigan State Highway Department first developed plans for a long-span concrete through girder bridge with arched girders on cantilevered brackets in the 1921-22 biennium. "These designs have curved top chords and bottom chord brackets," MSHD reported in its Ninth Biennial Report, making them suitable for relatively long-span applications. The highway department touted the flexibility of the bridge, stating that arched girders with cantilevered sidewalks were suitable for urban and small-town applications. The first curved-chord girder was a 90-foot span built in 1922 over the Raisin River at Tecumseh. This was followed in the 1920s by a series of curved girders used in single-span or multiple-span configurations. One of these new bridges was the span that MSHD designed in 1923 for this Clinton County Crossing. The Stoney Creek structure, like the Tecumseh Bridge, featured a 90-foot span. It was designed by MSHD in 1923 in behalf of the Clinton County Road Commission. The Price Brothers, contractors form Lansing, were awarded the contract to build the bridge; they completed in 1924 for $25,893.09, of which the state and county paid almost equal amounts. Since its completion, the Grange Road Bridge has functioned in place in essentially unaltered condition on this secondary road. With its 1923-23 construction date, its 90-foot span and its integral sidewalk, the Grange Road Bridge is today representative of the state’s MSHD-designed, arched through girders.
Monroe Road Bridge City/Township: Eagle Twp. Location: Monroe Road/Looking Glass River Year Built: 1894 About this Bridge: Built in 1894, this 148 foot structure is one of the longest Pratt through truss bridges in Michigan. It is closed to traffic.
Stony Creek Bridge Location: Private Road / Stony Creek Year Built: 1880 About this Bridge: This single-span wrought iron bridge crosses Stoney Creek on an abandoned road segment in rural Olive Township. Spanning about 40 feet, the Stoney Creek Bridge is a pin-connected Queenpost pony truss. The queenpost’s origins are ancient and obscure. Its symmetrical form lent itself naturally to timber roof framing, where the truss was first used in the Middle Ages. Early American carpenters constructed kingpost and queenpost bridges at minor crossings throughout the eastern United States. The technology for these two truss types spread to Michigan with the pioneers in the 18th and 19th centuries. As a result, uncounted timber kingposts and queenposts were built on the region’s early roads. The truss forms remained the same as their construction evolved from the vernacular to the industrial in the 19th century, with the principal changes involving materials used: timber/iron, iron, steel. All-metal versions were marketed to the counties and townships by bridge fabricators as inexpensive structure types for short-span applications. This relatively narrow span range limited their use, however. As steel beam bridges received widespread acceptance after the turn of the 20th century, erection of kingpost and queenpost trusses declined correspondingly. Kingposts were far more frequently employed than the inherently longer queenposts. The later truss type was superseded in its all-metal configuration by the three-panel Pratt, which closely resembled he queenpost in all ways except the composition of its verticals. Subsequent attrition has eliminated all of Michigan’s queenposts but this one diminutive span in Clinton County. Apparently built in the 1880s, it is thus technologically significant as the last example of its kind of what was once a mainstay structural type. The Stoney Creek Bridge is today distinguished as a well-preserved, early illustration of small-scale wrought iron truss construction.
Upton Road Bridge Location: Upton Rd. (In Park) / Maple River Year Built: 1901 About this Bridge: This is one of only three Parker through trusses shown in the Michigan Historic Bridge Inventory. It is the only truss that was clearly produced by the Detroit Bridge and Iron Works, which built very few metal truss bridges in Michigan.
Lowell Road Bridge Location: Lowell Rd. / Looking Glass River Year Built: 1896 About this Bridge: The MDOT inventory shows only about thirty structures dating from 1900 and before -- fully twelve of them dated circa 1900 -- that appear to be Pratt through trusses. This bridge is dated 1896. In our opinion all Pratt through trusses dated 1900 and before that retain at least an average degree of integrity, including the Lowell Road Bridge -- appear to meet the National Register criteria based on their age. Information courtesy of Michigan Department of Transportation
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