The Half Chance Iron Bridge, also known as the Half-Chance Bridge, is a historic single-span

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

located near the small community of Half Chance, between the towns of Linden and

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

in rural

Marengo County Marengo County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,323. The largest city is Demopolis, and the county seat is Linden. It is named in honor of the Battle of ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. It is on Marengo County Road 39 over Chickasaw Bogue Creek. The bridge is the oldest surviving iron bridge in Alabama, making it an important transportation and engineering landmark for the state. County Road 39 has been moved over the years. The Half Chance Iron Bridge is approximately 1/4 mi. to the South and on private property. Half Chance Iron Bridge is a wide

tied-arch bridge A tied-arch bridge is an arch bridge in which the outward horizontal forces of the arch(es) caused by tension at the arch ends to a foundation are countered by equal tension of its own gravity plus any element of the total deck structure such grea ...

with a span of . It was built by the King Iron Bridge Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Ohio in 1880. King Iron Bridge Manufacturing Company was founded in 1871 by

Zenas King Zenas King (May 1, 1818 – 1892) was an American bridge builder. He started his career in 1858 and moved from Cincinnati to Cleveland, Ohio, around 1861. He established a bridge-building works on Wason Street in Cleveland in 1865. King founde ...

. As early as 1878 it was manufacturing many types of truss, combination, and wooden bridges and by the 1880s it was the largest highway bridge work in the United States. The bridge was reported as destroyed in a flood between 2008 and 2012. The structure no longer exists.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Marengo County, Alabama Bridges completed in 1880 Wrought iron bridges in the United States King Bridge Company Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Tied arch bridges in the United States Transportation buildings and structures in Marengo County, Alabama {{Alabama-bridge-struct-stub