Kentucky Route 762 Bridge, Spanning South Fork of Panther Creek, Owensboro

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER KY,30-OWENB.V,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

George D. Rawlings Division of Environmental Analysis Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Frankfort/ Kentucky Edited and Transmitted by: Paul Hawke Historian Southeast Regional Office National Park Service Atlanta, Georgia November 14, Kentucky Route 762 Bridge (Daviess County Bridge) HAER No. (Page 2) The Kentucky Route 762 Bridge was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places on September 30, The bridge crosses the South Berk of Panther Creek between Daviess and Ohio counties, Kentucky. Daviess County is located in western Kentucky with the Ohio River forming its northern boundary. Kentucky Route 762 is a rural two-lane, gravel, secondary road, while Panther Creek forms the major drainage basin for Daviess County.

The Kentucky Route 762 Bridge is a one-lane metal truss bridge. The structural configuration of this truss identifies it as a Pratt through truss. The structure has six panels and is 101 feet in length and feet in width. This bridge was constructed in by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company. The compression members of a Pratt truss must be rigid and of sturdy construction. On the Kentucky Route 762 Daviess County Bridge, the end post and top chords are constructed of two channels, cover plate, and lacing bars. The intermediate posts are two channels and two sets of lacing bars. The tension members are less rigid bars with eyes for pin-connected panel points and are referred to as eyebars.

The main tension members on the Kentucky 762 Bridge are as follows: bottom chords are two rectilinear loop-welded eyebars, hip verticals are one loop-welded round eyebar split into two at the bottom chord, diagonals are two rectilinear loop-^welded eyebars, and the counters are single round loop-welded eyebars with tumbuckles for field adjustment. The floor system of the Kentucky 762 Bridge has rolled I-beam floor beams with, floor beam hangers at each, panel point. Stringers between the floor beams axe wood beams- and I-beams. This bridge has a wood plank deck and the substructure consists of two rough cut stone abutments. Due to its construction date, it may have been constructed of either wrought iron or steel.

A stamp on the channels of some compression members identifies Jones and Iaughlin Mills as a supplier of materials for bridge construction. The "Survey of Truss, Suspension, and Arch Bridges in Kentucky," completed in January located 134 Pratt through truss bridges in the State. Seventy-eight percent of these structures, including the Kentucky Route 762 Bridge, are pin-connected. Most of the Pratt through trusses were constructed before Sixty of these trusses have identifying builder/date plates representing the work of 12 separate bridge builders or companies. The Kentucky Route 762 Bridge was constructed by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, an innovator in metal truss bridge technology.

This example is relatively late but does incorporate some distinctive elements including hip-verticals that are split in cross section to rigidly hold the bottom chord pin and floor beam hanger.