Photos
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View Showing North Elevation Of Bridge, Looking South [Ryan} Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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View Showing South Elevation Of Bridge, Looking North. The Rock Island Line Railroad Bridge Can Be Seen In The Background To The North, With The Burlington Street Bridge In The Distance [Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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3/4 View Of Bridge From The East Bank Of The Iowa River, Looking Northwest [Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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3/4 View Of Bridge From The West Bank Of The Iowa River, Looking Northeast [Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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3/4 View Of Bridge From The West Bank Of The Iowa River, Looking Southwest. Piers From The Old Benton Street Bridge Can Be Seen In The Water To The Left Of The Bridge [Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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View Showing East Approach, Looking West [Ryan & Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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View Showing West Approach, Looking East [Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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View Of Deck, Showing Sidewalk & Original Light Poles, Looking West [Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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View Of Sidewalk & Sidewalk Railing, Showing Weld Between Railing Sections, Looking Northwest. The Piers From The Old Benton Street Bridge Can Be Seen In The Water Below [Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of Sidewalk Railing, Showing Welded Seam, 'Illinois-S-Usa' Roller Mark, And Welder's Initials ('C.K.'), Looking North-Northwest [Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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View Of Pier 3, Showing The Junction Of Panels 4 & 3 Of The South Girder, Looking Northeast [Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Overall View Of Panel 4 From Beneath The Bridge, Showing Main Girders, Floor Beams & Stringers, Lateral Bracing, And Piers 3 & 2, Looking East [Ryan & Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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View Of Pier 2, Showing Fixed Shoes, The South Girder (Panels 3 & 2), And Cantilever Brackets & Handrail, Looking Northwest [Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of The Cantilever & 'S' Brackets And The South Handrail, Panel 1, Near The Southeast Abutment, Looking Northwest [Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View From Below The North Main Girder & Cantilever Brackets, Showing The Deteriorating Original Concrete Sidewalk And Its Steel Reinforcement, Panel 1, Looking West-Southwest [Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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View Of Typical Main Girder Welded 'Butt Splice,' Showing The 'Eye Plates' And The Attachment Of The Sidewalk Cantilever Brackets, North Girder, Panel 5, Looking Southeast [Ryan & Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of A Typical Main Girder Welded 'Butt Splice,' Showing The 'Eye Plates,' South Girder, Panel 1, Looking North-Northwest [Harms} Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of A Typical Welded Joint Between The Main Girder And The Floor Beam, Showing The Attachment Of A Lateral Bracing Member At This Point, South Girder, Panel 5, Looking South-Southwest [Ryan & Wieskamp] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of A Typical 'T-Stiffener' Welded To The Inside Of The Main Girder, Showing The Welded Attachment With A Sway Brace, Panel 1, South Girder, Looking Southeast [Harms & Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of A Movable Shoe At Pier 1, Showing The South Main Girder And The Concrete Deterioration At The Top Of The Pier, Looking Northwest [Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of The Movable Shoe At The Southeast Abutment, Showing The Intersection Of The Floor Beam With A Lateral Brace And The South Main Girder, Panel 1, Looking South-Southeast [Ryan & Harms] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of The Concrete Northwest Abutment, Looking West-Southwest From Below [Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of The Northwest Abutment, Showing An Original Light Fixture And The 'Historical Tablet,' Looking North-Northeast From Below [Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of Historical Tablet Located On The Northwest Abutment, Looking North-Northeast [Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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Detail View Of The Dedication Plaque Located On The Northeast Abutment, Looking North-Northwest [Ryan] Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER |
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View Showing Welders At Work On Both The North And South Girders, With The Old Bridge In The Background, Looking Northwest. No Date. (Welding Of Top Flanges Of Cantilever Brackets To Girder Occurred On May 10, 1949) Contemporary photo from the construction of the Benton Street Bridge. Note the Parker through truss, known as the Ryerson Bridge after the nearby Ryerson Mill, that the Benton Street Bridge replaced. Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record |
Facts
- Overview
- Lost Deck plate girder bridge over Iowa River on Benton Street in Iowa City
- Location
- Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa
- Status
- Replaced by new bridge
- History
- Built 1949; Demolished 1989; Replaced 1990
- Design
- "Crossing the Iowa River in the south-central section of Iowa City, the Benton Street Bridge is an all-welded, continuous, five-span, deck, plate-girder highway bridge. Although all-welded bridges appeared in the United States as early as the 1920s, welding was not widely advocated for new bridge construction until immediately after World War II, when a number of state highway departments began preparing all-welded, deck, plate-girder plans. Designed in 1947 and erected in 1949, the Benton Street Bridge introduced all-welded bridge construction to the State of Iowa, and was nationally recognized as one of the most notable examples of the new genre. An early champion of welding, the bridge's designer, Edward (Ned) L. Ashton, had previously engineered several major Mississippi River crossings, and would subsequently be responsible for the world's first welded aluminum highway bridge, completed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1958. Ashton has justifiably been called "the most distinguished bridge engineer in the history of Iowa."
Jeffrey A. Hess and Robert Hybben, October, 1989
` - Dimensions
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Total length: 592 ft.
Deck width: 33 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +41.65278, -91.54167 (decimal degrees)
41°39'10" N, 91°32'30" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/621431/4612252 (zone/easting/northing)
- USGS topographic map
- Iowa City West
- Inventory number
- BH 37391 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- November 5, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning: Added link to Ashton's welded aluminum bridge in Des Moines.
- September 9, 2008: Added by J.R. Manning
Sources
- J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
- HAER IA-30 - Benton Street Bridge