After spending the morning photographing a lighthouse along Lake Erie, I decided to head south and visit three unique trusses in Huron County, Ohio.
The first crossing I came across was the Blue Bridge, which consists of two pin-connected Pratt through trusses constructed in 1882 by the King Bridge Company. Load-bearing stringers were installed during a rehabilitation of the structure in 1996 rendering the trusses decorative.
It doesn’t appear that the above-roadway superstructure is being maintained all that much. Structural members are bent and disconnected in places because of vehicle strikes, and the painting system seems to be an afterthought.
Compare its condition to the Standardsburg Bridge. Constructed in 1926 by the Pan American Bridge Company, the Warren through truss span was rehabilitated in 1994 with a new roadway deck.
By the dawn of the 21st century, the Standardsburg Bridge had structurally deteriorated and required a reduction in the weight limit. Work was begun on December 2011 on a more extensive renovation project which consisted of dismantling the truss, removing the rivets, and shipping it to a fabricator where deteriorated truss members were rehabbed or replaced. All steel members were then cleaned and galvanized, shipped back to the site, and reassembled. Work also involved the replacement of the pin rocker bearings with new elastomeric bearing pads, a waterproofed wood floor system with an asphalt surface, and new bridge railings.
The rehabilitated Standardsburg Bridge was reopened to traffic in November 2012.
I finally came across the closed Sand Hill Road Bridge on Sand Hill Road. This rather unique Warren through truss was constructed in 1944 and rehabilitated in 1992. The superstructure was more recently damaged after a vehicle strike, and it seems that it may be repaired or replaced at the cost of $2 million in 2024.
