Property Record
Meridian Road over Black Creek
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Meridian Road Bridge (P-37-0190) |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 245699 |
| Location (Address): | Meridian Road over Black Creek |
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| County: | Marathon |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Rietbrock |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 29 |
| Range: | 4 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 3 |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1940 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2023 |
| Historic Use: | pony truss bridge |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
| Structural System: | Warren Truss |
| Wall Material: | Metal |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| 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. 2023: Structure P-37-190 is a single-span, Warren pony-truss bridge of riveted steel construction. The bridge measures 85 feet in length with a deck width of 25 feet and a substructure of reinforced concrete abutments and angled wingwalls. Steel floor beams support a concrete deck. The bridge’s Warren truss design includes vertical members at each panel point along the lower chord as a means of stabilizing the bridge’s horizontal elements (a subtype of the Warren truss commonly referred to as “Warren truss with verticals”). Primary chords bear the imprint of the Illinois Steel Company. Narrow steel railings span the length of each truss. The bridge may have been constructed as part of a series of county-wide WPA projects to improve county- and township-owned roads through resurfacing, the installation of drainage structures, and the construction of bridges (although it does not display a WPA identification plaque). Historic maps indicate that a bridge has existed at this location since at least 1881, though the nature of this early structure is unknown. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Map of the County of Marathon, Wisconsin. La Crosse, WI: Bussell & Holway, 1881. WPA Project Cards: Marathon County (1939). Wisconsin Historical Society Digital Collections. https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/tp/id/78787/rec/11 (accessed February 17, 2023). Files and construction records: P-37-190. WisDOT Highway Structures Information System. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |