Near Logansville in Logan County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

1882 Whipple Through Truss Bridge

[Site of the new "Chester R. Kurtz" Bridge]

1882 Whipple Trough Truss Bridge Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Rev. Ronald Irick, November 24, 2020

1. 1882 Whipple Trough Truss Bridge Marker

Inscription.

1882 Whipple Through Truss Bridge. [Site of the new "Chester R. Kurtz" Bridge]. , This bridge carries County Road 21, which was originally called Logansville and Muchinippi Free turnpike, over the Great Miami River in Logansville, Ohio, and was constructed in 1882 by the Massillion Bridge Company of Massillion, Ohio. It was determined eligible for inclusion on the National Registry of Historic Places as a surviving example of a Whipple through truss design, built by a significant Ohio bridge company., Squire Whipple developed the design for this type of bridge in 1847. He was the first engineer to understand the stresses in truss members and was therefore able to create a formula to calculate the actual stress in the trusses of a bridge. This allowed for more scientific bridge design. With the help of these scientific methods, he was able to design the longer spans with diagonals that traverse two panels that are characteristic of a Whipple truss bridge. Whipple trusses, which are also known as double-intersection Pratt trusses, are one of the most successful long-span designs of the mid to late 1800s. They could be up up to 300 feet long and were used for both railroad and vehicular traffic. This example is 143 feet long. It carried one lane traffic until it was bypassed and preserved by Logan County Engineer Scott Coleman,P.E., P.S. in 2020., The Massillion Iron Bridge Company was founded in 1869 and incorporated in 1873 by Joseph Davenport. The company offered a catalog of dozens of steel trusses and installed bridges throughout the Midwest before shutting down in the early 1900s. To this day, numerous examples of Massillion Bridge Co. structures can be found throughout Ohio. Several are listed in the National Registry of Historic Places and in the Ohio Historic Inventory. There are only eleven surviving examples of Whipple thur trusses in Ohio., To accommodate modern traffic demands and vehicle size, a new 155 feet single span plate girder bridge was built to the north of the historic truss. The contractor for this project was Eagle Bridge Company and construction inspection services were performed by DLZ Ohio, Inc. Federal funds were used to pay for 80% of the estimated $1,838,032 project cost.

This bridge carries County Road 21, which was originally called Logansville and Muchinippi Free turnpike, over the Great Miami River in Logansville, Ohio, and was constructed in 1882 by the Massillion Bridge Company of Massillion, Ohio. It was determined eligible for inclusion on the National Registry of Historic Places as a surviving example of a Whipple through truss design, built by a significant Ohio bridge company.

Squire Whipple developed the design for this type of bridge in 1847. He was the first engineer to understand the stresses in truss members and was therefore able to create a formula to calculate the actual stress in the trusses of a bridge. This allowed for more scientific bridge design. With the help of these scientific methods, he was able to design the longer spans with diagonals that traverse two panels that are characteristic of a Whipple truss bridge. Whipple trusses, which are also known as double-intersection Pratt trusses, are one of the most successful long-span designs of the mid to late 1800s. They could be up up to 300 feet long and were used for both railroad and vehicular traffic. This example is 143 feet long. It carried one lane traffic until it was bypassed and preserved by Logan County Engineer Scott Coleman,P.E., P.S. in 2020.

The Massillion Iron Bridge Company was founded

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in 1869 and incorporated in 1873 by Joseph Davenport. The company offered a catalog of dozens of steel trusses and installed bridges throughout the Midwest before shutting down in the early 1900s. To this day, numerous examples of Massillion Bridge Co. structures can be found throughout Ohio. Several are listed in the National Registry of Historic Places and in the Ohio Historic Inventory. There are only eleven surviving examples of Whipple thur trusses in Ohio.

To accommodate modern traffic demands and vehicle size, a new 155 feet single span plate girder bridge was built to the north of the historic truss. The contractor for this project was Eagle Bridge Company and construction inspection services were performed by DLZ Ohio, Inc. Federal funds were used to pay for 80% of the estimated $1,838,032 project cost.

Erected 2020 by Logan County Engineer's Department.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Bridges & Viaducts. A significant historical year for this entry is 1882.

Location. 40° 21.083′ N, 83° 56.332′ W. Marker is near Logansville, Ohio, in Logan County. Marker is on County Road 21, 0.3 miles east of County Road 77, on the left when traveling west. The marker is in a small green space between the old bridge and the new bridge, on the west bank of the Great Miami

1882 Whipple Through Truss Bridge Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Rev. Ronald Irick, November 24, 2020

2. 1882 Whipple Through Truss Bridge Marker

River. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1039 Co Rd 21, De Graff OH 43318, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Vance Blockhouse (approx. 0.7 miles away); DeGraff, Ohio Veterans Memorial (approx. 2.6 miles away); Quincy Ohio Veterans Memorial (approx. 3.3 miles away); McColly Covered Bridge - 1876 (approx. 3½ miles away); Curry Blockhouse / Shawnee Village “Oldtown” (approx. 3.8 miles away); Old Quincy School (approx. 4 miles away); Beehive Community Church (approx. 4.3 miles away); Bellefontaine Airport Pylon (approx. 6½ miles away).

The old bridge image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Rev. Ronald Irick, November 23, 2020

3. The old bridge

Cast iron plaque from old bridge image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Rev. Ronald Irick, November 23, 2020

4. Cast iron plaque from old bridge

The new "Chester R. Kurtz" bridge, just north of the old bridge image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Rev. Ronald Irick, November 23, 2020

5. The new "Chester R. Kurtz" bridge, just north of the old bridge

Credits. This page was last revised on November 24, 2020. It was originally submitted on November 24, 2020, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. This page has been viewed 497 times since then and 164 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on November 24, 2020, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.