Rattlesnake Creek Bridge

The Rattlesnake Creek Bridge brings a Cuming County, Nebraska county road over Rattlesnake Creek, 2.8 miles northwest of Bancroft. It was built in 1903 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.[1]

Rattlesnake Creek Bridge
Rattlesnake Creek Bridge is located in Nebraska
Rattlesnake Creek Bridge
Rattlesnake Creek Bridge is located in the United States
Rattlesnake Creek Bridge
Nearest cityWest Point, Nebraska
Coordinates42°02′39″N 96°36′49″W / 42.044272°N 96.613588°W / 42.044272; -96.613588
Arealess than one acre
Built1903
Built byStandard Bridge Co.; Carnegie Steel Co.
Architectural stylePratt half-hip pony truss
MPSHighway Bridges in Nebraska MPS
NRHP reference No.92000743[1]
Added to NRHPJune 29, 1992

The road was gravel-surfaced in 1992.[2]

It is a steel Pratt half-hip pony truss bridge, and the oldest known example of this type designed by the Standard Bridge Company of Omaha and built throughout eastern Nebraska. The bridge is 92 feet (28 m) long in total, with a single span of 60 feet (18 m) and a roadway width of 15.7 feet (4.8 m).[3]

It was one of 60 new or rebuilt bridges in a bridge-building program started in 1903 by Cuming County. The Standard Bridge Company had an annual contract with Cuming, Wayne, Thurston, Stanton, Dodge and Burt counties and built hundreds of half-hip truss bridges during 1900–1920; this one is the oldest documented example.[2]

In 2019, the bridge was relocated to a hiking trail housed in a West Point, Nebraska nature park, where it remains in use today by foot and bike traffic. Previously, the intact bridge was placed in a field in rural Cuming County unused.

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Carl W. McWilliams (June 30, 1991). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Rattlesnake Creek Bridge / NEHBS Number CMOO-58". National Park Service. Retrieved June 15, 2017. With photo from 1989.
  3. ^ McWilliams, Carl W. (June 30, 1991). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Rattlesnake Creek Bridge" (PDF). Archived from the original on December 18, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2013. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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