The Hutsonville Bridge or Sullivan-Hutsonville Bridge connecting

Crawford County, Illinois Crawford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,817. Its county seat is Robinson. History Crawford County was formed in the Illinois Territory on December 31, 1816, out of Edw ...

, and

Sullivan County, Indiana Sullivan County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana, and determined by the US Census Bureau to include the mean center of U.S. population in 1940. As of 2010, the population was 21,475. The county seat (and the county's only incorporated c ...

, over the

Wabash River The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...

, built 1939 and replaced in 1988, was an example of the relatively rare

self-anchored suspension bridge A self-anchored suspension bridge is a suspension bridge type in which the main cables attach to the ends of the deck, rather than directly to the ground or via large anchorages. The design is well-suited for construction atop elevated piers, o ...

type. It was designed by Robinson & Steinman, with

R. V. Milbank R. or r. may refer to: * ''Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler. * '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King * ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen * or , abbreviat ...

as the resident chief engineer, and constructed by Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company as general contractor and Vincennes Steel Corporation as steel fabricators and

Charles J. Glasgow Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

as a subcontractor. Note the use of multiple independent cables, rather than a large single interleaved and sheathed cable, as is typical for larger suspension bridges, or

eyebar In structural engineering and construction, an eyebar is a straight bar, usually of metal, with a hole ("eye") at each end for fixing to other components. Eyebars are used in structures such as bridges, in settings in which only tension, and ne ...

s, often used in smaller bridges such as the Pittsburgh Seventh Street Bridge, also self-anchored. Although the bridge was determined eligible for inclusion in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1987 due to the rarity of its type, the bridge was replaced in 1988 and demolished, with the replacement bridge being made of concrete and supported by pillars instead of suspension. Hutsonville Bridge 3

According to the Bridgemeister.com site referenced below, the demolition was controversial. The site in turn cites the September 26, 1988, issue of the Springfield, Illinois, ''State Journal-Register'' that the company to which the $100,000 demolition contract was let offered to turn the money over to save the bridge. The locals agreed, but the company's Chief Engineer Stephen Schneider was quoted, "I think Indiana really wants to tear it down. They've been ... forced to send inspectors out every two weeks. I think they just want the headache gone." Gary Abell, spokesman for the Indiana Dept. Of Highways said its design is "not one of the best. It works in theory, but not in practice. This is like trying to save a mistake." In 2002, an unnamed INDOT representative was cited as saying, "I am not sure why you are interested in that bridge, but from our standpoint, it was a very poorly designed bridge that had many problems from the day that it was completed, until it was brought down."

References

External links

Hutsonville Bridge
entry at Bridges.midwestplaces.org * *
Hutsonville Bridge entry
at Bridgemeister.com

See also

References

External links

Further reading