Upper Gassaway Bridge

The Upper Gassway Bridge over the Elk River was originally erected in 1912-13 as a wrought iron truss supported by cut stone piers and abutments. ^{2 3 5} A replacement bridge was built in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration and the State Roads Commission with steel from the Midland Structural Steel Company of Cicero, Illinois, utilizing the piers of the original structure. ^{1 4} This newer bridge featured a riveted Parker through truss main span, a polygonal Warren pony truss at each end, and a concrete slab span. ³

A new roadway deck was added in 1963, and the back wall was repaired in 1970. ⁴ In 1990, further work was conducted on the back wall, lower chords, sway bracings, and floor beams, followed by repairs to the stringers in 1992 and the pier cap in 1995. The lower chords were plated in 1996.

By 2016, the Upper Gassaway Bridge was deemed to be functionally and structurally obsolete due to several issues, such as the lack of shoulders, narrow travel lanes, height restrictions, and weight limitations for heavy vehicles. ^{2 3} Additionally, significant section loss on primary and secondary truss members rendered the bridge structurally unsound. In 2018, a project was launched to replace or rehabilitate the crossing, which considered five potential alternatives.

It was determined that renovating the 1935 bridge would not be feasible as it would not increase the original H-15 load capacity, and thus the bridge would remain weight-restricted, retaining fracture-critical members. ³ Moreover, such rehabilitation would require the construction of a temporary bridge during the project’s duration and prove more costly than the other alternatives. Consequently, the decision was made to construct a new girder bridge 15 feet downstream of the existing structure at an estimated cost of $2.85 million.

Construction work on the new Upper Gassaway Bridge commenced in mid-2022.