MP Fire Prairie Creek Bridge

Located on the east side of Independence, this deck plate girder bridge carries an abandoned railroad spur across Fire Prairie Creek, formerly a channel of the Little Blue River. Built in 1957 as part of a spur to the Blue Valley Generating Station, the bridge consists of a 75-foot deck plate girder span, approached by timber pile trestle spans and supported on timber pile substructures. The girder span is a reused turntable, as evidenced by the shape, empty holes in the bottom and light design. It is currently unknown where this span was reused from, but 75-foot turntables became obsolete by the early 1900s. Railroads often reused steel and iron spans, including turntables. Reuse of these spans provided railroads with a cost effective way to construct bridges, particularly on branch lines and spurs. Often, when a span became obsolete at one location, it could feasibly be reused at another. Turntables were occasionally reused, as they were effectively girder spans. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair condition, with no significant deterioration noted. It is believed that the bridge has not seen a train since the 1990s, and the tracks have been removed. The bridge is now owned by Jackson County, and the future of the bridge is uncertain. The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the turntable design.