| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
Structure P-22-158 is a single span. low Pony truss bridge of riveted steel construction. The bridge measures 52-feet-long and has a 17-foot-wide, cast in place concrete deck. Steel beams below the decking are supported by steel abutments. The bridge’s truss design features three vertical members and six diagonals on each elevation, connected with riveted steel plates. Steel railings are located along the length of both trusses. The subject structure was constructed in 1919 and carries Big Green Road over the Big Green River. Work on the bridge has generally included repairs, painting, and preventative maintenance. The bridge was fabricated by the Elkhart Bridge & Iron Co. of Elkhart, Indiana and was constructed by W. E. Gifford of Madison, WI.
2024: The Big Green Road Bridge, constructed in 1919, carries the Big Green Road on an east-west alignment over the Big Green River in the town of Mount Ida, Grant County. Big Green Road is a curvy one-lane road extending across a rural setting with a handful of dispersed farmsteads across a hilly landscape.
The Big Green Road Bridge is a single-span, riveted, steel Warren pony truss with a concrete deck. The total structure length is 50 feet with an out-to-out width of 16 feet. The Warren truss has four panels, each 12 feet, 6 inches measured along the bottom chord. The top chord consists of two channels with top plate and underside V-lacing while the bottom chord is paired angles with batten plates. Vertical and diagonal members are comprised of two angles. All members and connections are riveted. Two original metal rails on each side of the bridge are comprised of channel members riveted to the vertical members of the truss. The floor system is comprised of a concrete deck on four steel floor beams suspended from truss verticals and four steel stringers. The expansion bearing is buried and not visible. Below the superstructure of the bridge are abutments on both sides. An abutment incorporates a pair of metal piers that serve as bridge seats for the bearings with a steel plate backwall between the piers. Throughout the structure’s history it has received regular preemptive maintenance.
The Big Green Road Bridge is one of 80 standard-plan truss bridges constructed throughout Wisconsin in 1919. A bridge had existed at this crossing from at least 1895 and was replaced by the current bridge. A plaque on the southwest end post of the bridge states that it was fabricated by the Elkhart Bridge & Iron Co. of Elkhart, Indiana, and constructed by W.E. Gifford. Elkhart Bridge & Iron Co. was founded in 1904 and fabricated 4,000 tons of steel annually. It was a prolific out-of-state builder creating truss bridges across Wisconsin. Once the fabrication of the bridge was done it was handed off to W.E. Gifford of Madison, Wisconsin, a bridge contracting agent of the Elkhart Bridge & Iron Co., to build the bridge over the river. The word “Bethlehem” can be found on several members of the bridge, indicating the steel was produced by the Bethlehem Steel Company of Pennsylvania. pony truss bridge |
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| Bibliographic References: | Files and construction records: P-22-158. WisDOT Highway Structures Information System.
Bridge Plate
Foote, Charles M., and John W. Henion. “Plat Book of Grant County, Wisconsin: Drawn from Actual Surveys and the County Records.” Grant County Wisconsin: C.M. Foote & Co., 1895. Wisconsin Historical Society Digital Collections.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Historic Highway Bridges in Wisconsin, Volume 2: Truss Bridges. Madison, Wis.: Wisconsin Department of Transportation, 1998.
Wisconsin Highway Commission. Preliminary Biennial Report to the Governor and Legislature of Wisconsin, 1921. |
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