Located west of Washington, this large deck truss bridge crosses County Road G38 and the West Fork of Crooked Creek.
Built in 1903, the bridge is a unique combination of designs. The main span of the bridge consists of a large 5-panel riveted Warren Deck Truss. In addition, the bridge is approached by deck girders and concrete arches on either side. The entire bridge rests on concrete substructures.
Deck trusses are relatively rare in Iowa, especially for railroads. There are a handful of railroad deck trusses in Iowa, most of which date to the 1899-1905 range.
The bridge here is a unique combination of spans. Commonly seen on bridges along this route and other main lines, the concrete arch abutments were a favorite of the Milwaukee Road. It is unknown why such a large span was installed here, although due to the current geometry of the road, it is required.
In addition, this alignment used to be part of Iowa Highway 92 until 1956, when it was rerouted between Washington and West Chester.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to poor condition. The truss has portions of steel which have 100% section loss, and these plates appear to be under lower connections, where water was trapped.
The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the unique design.
The photo above is an overview.