Rude Bridge

The Rude Bridge carried County Route 5 over Big Wheeling Creek in Marshall County, West Virginia.

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The Rude Bridge carried County Route 5 over Big Wheeling Creek in Marshall County, West Virginia. The crossing was notable as an example of the Whipple Trapezoidal, or Double-Intersection Pratt, through truss, an increasingly uncommon bridge type. It was also associated with the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, one of the most prominent bridge builders in the United States during the 19th century. ⁴

History

Rude Bridge spanned Big Wheeling Creek along the historic boundary between Marshall County’s Union District and Sand Hill District. ⁵ Ordinarily, Union District lay west of the creek and Sand Hill District to the east. However, because the creek formed a pronounced loop at this location, the arrangement was reversed: Union District land lay east of the bridge and Sand Hill District land to the west.

The property east of the crossing in Union District belonged to the Downing family from at least 1871 until about 1920. ⁵ The land west of the bridge in Sand Hill District was owned for many years by the Davis family, beginning around 1827. Both tracts were used primarily for agricultural purposes.

The earliest Davis associated with the property west of the bridge was Albert Davis, who was described variously as a farmer, carpenter, blacksmith, bootmaker, and justice of the peace. ⁵ He also served as a trustee of a local school and Methodist church and may have been involved in improvements to the Big Wheeling Creek Road. His son, Silas R. Davis, and grandson, Harry Albert Davis, later resided on the property with their families.

Around 1920, Edward J. Rude and Mabel S. Rude purchased the Davis property. ⁵ Their daughter, Betty Jane Schafer, and grandson, Roy Schafer, Jr., continued to reside there in later years. The bridge eventually took its present name from the Rude family.

Early Roads and Turnpike Development

Local roads following Big Wheeling Creek likely existed before the 1850s or 1860s. The earliest known formal proposal for road improvements along the creek appeared in 1853, when a route was discussed that would extend toward the Pennsylvania state line. ⁵

In 1858, the Wheeling Creek Turnpike Company was incorporated to construct a road beginning at the National Road and following the valley of Wheeling Creek to its forks and onward to the Pennsylvania line. ⁵ Albert Davis was listed among the Marshall County directors of the company at that time.

After the creation of the State of West Virginia in 1863, the enterprise appears to have been reorganized as the Wheeling Creek & Pennsylvania Turnpike Company, incorporated on October 30, 1863. Albert Davis again served as a director. The proposed route was described as a 20- to 30-foot-wide graded toll road running from a point near the property of Mrs. Lydia Cruger on the National Road in Ohio County, along the valley of Wheeling Creek, to the Pennsylvania state line, where it would connect with a road built in Pennsylvania.

An 1871 map clearly depicted a road following the banks of Big Wheeling Creek. ⁵ However, it remains unclear whether the road ever operated as a toll turnpike.

Construction of the Bridge

The Rude Bridge was constructed in 1896 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio. ^{1 2 3 5} The structure consisted of a 170-foot, 12-panel pinned Whipple through truss. ⁵ The steel superstructure comprised two trapezoidal trusses, with top and bottom chords, end posts, hip verticals, vertical posts, and diagonal tension members. These elements were connected by floor beams and lower lateral bracing below, and by A-frame portal struts, sway struts, and upper lateral bracing above.

A defining feature of the Whipple Trapezoidal truss was the use of diagonal tension members that extend across two truss panels, typically formed from eyebars. ⁵ This configuration allowed longer spans while maintaining an efficient structural angle for the diagonals.

The bridge also included a 39-foot steel girder approach span composed of two steel beam girders connected by steel floor beams and topped with smaller steel stringers. ⁴

The substructure consisted of two steel caisson bents supporting the ends of the main truss and the west end of the girder approach span. ⁵ Each bent incorporated crossed diagonal tension members formed from round-profile eyebars with turnbuckles.

Development of the Whipple Truss

The bridge type used at the Rude crossing was derived from work by Squire Whipple, a New York engineer who constructed one of the earliest metal truss bridges in the United States in 1840 across the Erie Canal. ⁵ He patented his bowstring arch truss design in 1841, which became the first widely used metal truss bridge designed according to scientific engineering principles.

Around the same time, engineer Thomas Pratt developed the Pratt truss, patented in 1844 with his father, Caleb Pratt. ⁵ The design employed vertical compression members and diagonal tension members, originally using wood and wrought iron. As iron construction became more economical, the Pratt truss gained widespread acceptance.

Whipple later adapted the Pratt design into what he called the Trapezoidal Truss, now commonly referred to as the Double-Intersection Pratt. He constructed his first example in 1846 and patented the design in 1847. ⁵ By extending diagonal members across two panels, Whipple increased the depth of the truss while maintaining an optimal diagonal angle of approximately 45°, allowing longer spans. Although developed in the 1840s, the Whipple truss did not gain widespread use until the 1860s, when improvements in pin-connected joints simplified fabrication and field assembly. ⁵ The design became common for both railroad and highway bridges from approximately 1865 to 1885, before gradually giving way to types such as the Camelback and Parker trusses, which were simpler to erect.

The Wrought Iron Bridge Company

The Wrought Iron Bridge Company was founded in 1866 in Canton, Ohio, by David Hammond. ⁵ The firm became one of the most prolific bridge builders in the United States during the late nineteenth century. By 1881, the company had constructed approximately 3,300 bridges in 25 states and Canada. In 1901–1902, the American Bridge Division of U.S. Steel acquired twenty-eight bridge companies, including the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, and consolidated them into the American Bridge Company, a major national bridge-building enterprise.

Later Years

Several repairs and alterations were undertaken to extend the service life of the Rude Bridge during the late twentieth century. In 1975, the original floor beams and stringers at the truss span were removed and replaced, and angle diaphragms were installed. ⁵ Angles were attached to the end posts, and top chord members, and loop bar hangers were added at the hip verticals at both ends of each truss. The floor beams were reinforced with welded ¼-inch plates at the top and bottom flanges. Work was also completed on the deck girder approach span, where the original girders, floor beams, and stringers were removed and replaced, and angle diaphragms were installed. A new timber deck was added at that time. In 1988, the timber deck was replaced with five-inch steel open-grid decking with timber curbing, and the floor system and lower chord were sandblasted and primed. Two additional stringers were also added to the deck girder span.

In 1989, repairs were made to a floor beam at the west bent of the truss span. ⁵ In 2009, steel angles were added to strengthen the bearings at the east end of the truss, a crack in the top of the south (downstream) cap at the eastern bent was welded, and steel plates were welded to the web and bottom flange of the floor beam at that bent. Further repairs were completed in 2012. At the truss span, the stringer bearing at the west bent was repaired, along with stringer replacement and floor beam repairs, and the north (upstream) end post at the west bent was repaired. At the deck girder span, the south (downstream) girder was repaired, floor beam repairs were completed, and the stringers were replaced.

A January 2015 bridge inspection found the structure in poor condition. ⁵ Inspectors reported deterioration and damage to several fracture-critical wrought-iron members, including pin-connected eyebars affected by corrosion, impact damage, foundation settlement, and unequal tension. Other issues included welded repairs, stress-sensitive butt welds, packed rust in vertical posts, and deformation in cross members.

Because the bridge was considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, documentation of the structure was completed in November 2015 under a Memorandum of Agreement between the West Virginia Department of Transportation and the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office. ⁵ The documentation was undertaken in advance of the bridge’s planned replacement in 2019.

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Gallery

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Details

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Sources

• Pauley, Michael, and Michael Gioulis. Langmyer Bridge. Historic Properties Inventory Form, Department of Culture and History, State of West Virginia, June 1986.
• Jourdan, K.M. NRO 1-33. Historic Property Inventory Form, Department of Culture and History, State of West Virginia, Sept. 1993.
• Mead & Hunt and KCI. Rude Bridge. Historic Bridge Inventory Form, Department of Culture and History, State of West Virginia, 2013.
• West Virginia Department of Transportation. Memorandum of Agreement. July 2015.