Sixth Street Bridge, Spanning State Route 155, City Street 792, & Norfolk Southern Railway, Griffin

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER GA-159. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Sixth Street Bridge is a rare, surviving example of a rail-carrying, pin-connected Warren truss bridge. Most of these bridge types were lost during a period of transition for the railroads. Beginning in the and continuing through the the weight of rolling stock dramatically increased forcing railroads to switch to stiffer and stronger riveted truss bridges. Coincidentally, the Interstate Commerce Commission mandated that the railroad provide overpass bridges around this time. Rather than completely constructing new bridges, the railroads frequently moved outdated bridge spans for this use.

Report Prepared By: Sharman Southall GDOT Architectural Historian Office of Environmental Services Georgia Department of Transportation 600 West Peachtree Street, NW Atlanta, Georgia Date: October SIXTH STREET BRIDGE (Georgia DOT Bridge No. HAER No. GA-159 (Page 2) Introduction The Sixth Street Bridge spans State Route City Street and Norfolk Southern Railway in the commercial downtown area of Griffin, Spalding County. The bridge is considered a contributing element of the Griffin Commercial Historic District, which was listed in the National Register in The district consists of the intact concentration of historic development in the City's central business district.

It retains the original grid street pattern laid out in and contains government, community landmark, and industrial buildings. Lewis Lawrence Griffin, the first president of the Monroe Railroad and Banking Company, is credited with being the founder of the city. Griffin's vision for the railroad was to serve as a link that would connect lines running from Chattanooga to Atlanta and from Macon to Savannah. He felt that the point where these two lines intersected would be the site of a major city, and this location was Griffin. Although the area was originally settled in the and known as Pleasant Grove, L. L. Griffin purchased 800 acres around the settlement.

The original town plan was designed by him and was surveyed and laid out by a railroad engineer in Due to its location on the railroad line, the town was a major cotton market in the nineteenth century, and supported many other industrial and manufacturing interests as well, such as a chair factory, lumber company, bottling works, and flour mill. Griffin was established as the county seat of Spalding County in and has always been the largest city in Spalding County.

1 Because of the unique appearance of the Sixth Street Bridge, and its location within a historic district devoid of modem intrusion, it has been frequently photographed and was included in a scene of "Driving Miss Daisy", a movie released in Background The Sixth Street Bridge (Georgia Department of Transportation Bridge features two pin-connected thru truss spans that have been placed side-by-side on concrete column bents. The length of each span is 99. 7'; with a deck width of and vertical clearance above the deck is The approximately long trusses are of the Warren design, with a pattern of diagonals of equal length forming a pattern of Verticals or a second set of diagonals have been added to the Warren design for added strength.

The Warren truss with verticals design gained popularity after and reflects the original use of the trusses for railroad loading. The steel stringer approach spans were added in to replace wood stringers that formed the original inclined approaches. The wood stringers are closely placed, and the bearing areas of the trusses have been encased in concrete. 2 1 Caldwell, Wilber W., The Courthouse and the Depot, Mercer University Press, Macon, Georgia, 91. 2 Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Historic Bridge Survey, Atlanta, Georgia, SIXTH STREET BRIDGE (Georgia DOT Bridge No. HAER No. GA-159 (Page 3) While Warren truss bridges are common, most pin-connected truss bridges are of the Pratt or other truss configurations. The majority of Warren truss bridges have riveted connections.

At this time, the Sixth Street Bridge is the only pin-connected Warren truss bridge in the state of Georgia. It is not known how many of these bridge-types are extant in the United States, but in the state of Iowa, which has one of the largest populations of metal truss bridges in the country, there are two extant pin-connected Warren truss bridges. 3 It is not known for certain when, where, or by whom the trusses were fabricated; however, in light of the design, it is assumed that the trusses were previously used as railroad bridges, and several assertions concerning the approximate fabrication date exist. It is possible that the trusses date to ca.

when the railroad line was constructed by the Georgia Midland and Gulf Railroad, as part of the 100-mile long line between Columbus and McDonough.

Because the truss web members appear to be light-weight, two bridge experts interviewed felt that the web members, combined with the small floorbeams and the deck stringers, appeared to be more delicate than one would expect of a former train-carrying railroad bridge; however, they did compare the design and scale of the Sixth Street Bridge to the Canal Outlet Railroad Bridge located in Holyoke, Hampden County, Massachusetts, constructed in by the Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania4 Given the similarity in the scale of the Canal Outlet Railroad Bridge and the Sixth Street Bridge, both experts believe that the Sixth Street Bridge could be an early example of a railroad bridge. The design of the trusses might be attributed to Georgia Midland and Gulf Railroad.

Railroad bridges were often designed by the railroad company themselves. In this circumstance, the trusses would have been built to the railroad company's specification by a contractor, in a manner similar to the way vehicular bridges are built today. As a result of this internal design, a railroad bridge may not have the distinctive details seen in many historic highway truss bridges that were both designed and built by a bridge company. 5 This presumption might also explain why no evidence of a builder plaque has been found on the bridge. No plaque or "plaque scar" outlining the shape of a removed plaque has been observed. This presumption would also date the bridge to ca. the date of construction of the Georgia Midland and Gulf Railroad.

It is assumed that the trusses were adapted for highway use around At that time, they were moved to Sixth Street in Griffin and installed as a viaduct overpass by the Southern Railway, now leasing the railroad from the financially depleted Georgia Midland and Gulf Railroad. The 3 Iowa Department of Transportation, Bridge Inventory, available on line at accessed August 16, 4 Interviews with Nathan Holth, HistoricBridges.org and Todd Wilson, E.I.T. BridgeMapper.com, January 8, 5 Interview with Nathan Holth, HistoricBridges.org, July 28, SIXTH STREET BRIDGE (Georgia DOT Bridge No. HAER No. GA-159 (Page 4) narrow trusses, wide enough to accommodate one track, were placed side by side in order to provide two lanes for opposing vehicular traffic.

The date of the adaptation to highway use is more certain than the fabrication date, but it is still somewhat unclear. A photograph of the bridge being assembled at its present location is part of the University of Georgia's Vanishing Georgia collection is dated 6 However, Sanborn Maps dated documented a wooden bridge over the railroad at 6th Street. By the Sanborn Insurance Map, a truss bridge was shown. 7 From to the City of Griffin had recognized the need for better streets, street lights, and signals, and the local newspaper devoted much to the discussion of these activities. A new courthouse was completed in to replace the structure. Griffin was encouraging commercial development and had formed a Board of Trade to work much like a Chamber of Commerce.

In reviewing the Griffin Daily News & Sun newspapers from this time period, many articles were also devoted to the railroads and their impact to Griffin. The citizens of the city were demanding that a new train depot be built as the current one (constructed in was deemed inadequate. In April disappointment was reported when it was announced that Barnesville would be getting a new depot and a new city hall. Although many issues of the newspaper reported railroad related articles, only two were found to be related to the truss bridge. The first appeared in the March 12, issue. In this issue, it was announced that Southern Railway planned to spend on bridge replacements from Macon to Atlanta in order to operate heavy Pacific-type locomotives over this line.

The Pacific- type were the largest passenger service trains being used, the article stated. No specifics were mentioned, but this may have been the initiative that motivated the movement of the truss. The other related article appeared in the issue dated May 4, An article reported that a "magnificent plaza was planned on West Taylor Street". In addition to this community improvement, it was further stated that city leaders were strongly encouraging Southern Railroad to remove the "unsightly wooden bridge" over the railroad at 6th Street and replace the "patchwork" with a nice, steel structure. This initiative was to coincide with paving efforts in the area.

In light of this article, it appears that is likely the date that the truss was erected at 6th Street, and the photograph dated was mislabeled. After being in service for over 100 years, the bridge is scheduled to be replaced in Because it is a rare, surviving example of a rail-carrying, pin-connected Warren truss bridge, the City of Griffin hopes to reuse it as a pedestrian bridge and is in the planning phase of this effort. 6 University of Georgia, Vanishing Georgia Collection, available on line at homeframe default.htmland, accessed June 14, 7 Sanborn Insurance Maps, available on line at accessed December 2, SIXTH STREET BRIDGE (Georgia DOT Bridge No. HAER No. GA-159 (Page 5) Bibliography Caldwell, Wilber W. The Courthouse and the Depot. Mercer University Press, Macon.

Georgia Department of Transportation Historic Bridge Survey. Atlanta. Holth, Nathan January 8, & July 28, Interviews Iowa Department of Transportation Bridge Inventory, available at University of Georgia Vanishing Georgia Collection, available on line at Sanborn Insurance Maps Available on line at Wilson, Todd January 8, Interview