Pierce in Pierce County, Nebraska — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Old Willow Creek Bridge
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 24, 2022
1. Old Willow Creek Bridge Marker
This bridge originally spanned Willow Creek southwest of Pierce. It was fabricated in 1913 by the Canton (Ohio) Bridge Company, which held Pierce Countys bridge contract between 1905 and 1918. It was moved here in 1994.
The thirty-four-foot steel span is configured as a rigid-connected lattice pony truss, a very old truss type commonly used in wood for covered bridges. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, it was one of two of its type in Nebraska at the time.
Erected by City of Pierce; Pierce Historical Society; and Nebraska State Historical Society. (Marker Number 401.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Bridges & Viaducts. In addition, it is included in the Nebraska State Historical Society series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1913.
Location. 42° 12.042′ N, 97° 31.217′ W. Marker is in Pierce, Nebraska, in Pierce County. It can be reached from North Mill Street 0.1 miles north of East Main Street (Highway 98), on the right when traveling north. Marker and bridge are located along the walking path in Gilman Park. Touch for map. Marker
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Eastern Nebraska. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Corn Belt, and on the prairies. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 5 other markers are within 14 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Gilman Park (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Meridian Highway: From Canada to Mexico (approx. 3.8 miles away); St. Paul's Lutheran Church (approx. 12 miles away); Verges Park (approx. 12.4 miles away); Battle Creek (approx. 13.9 miles away).
Regarding Old Willow Creek Bridge. National Register of Historic Places #92000706.
From the National Register Nomination:
With its lattice configuration, this diminutive structure represents a throwback of sorts to the Town lattice truss used extensively for nineteenth century covered timber bridges. The multiple diagonals of a lattice truss functionboth in tension and compression at various times while a vehicle crosses over it, making the truss structurally indeterminate. For this reason lattice trusses were seldom used in all-metal configurations for other than short-span applications. All-steel lattice trusses were uncommon even for their period, though they were sometimes carried as standard items in bridge builders' catalogs. No doubt several were built on Nebraska's secondary roads in the early 1900s. In a well-preserved state, this bridge is technologically significant as one of the last remaining examples in the state of this early vehicular truss type.Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 24, 20222. Old Willow Creek Bridge Marker(looking southwest Willow Creek Bridge in left background)
Also see . . . Willow Creek Bridge.
The Willow Creek Bridge, which brought a Pierce County, Nebraska road over Willow Creek, about 6.5 miles miles south of Foster, Nebraska, was built in 1913. The bridge has a single 34.0 feet span and supports a 15.7 feet roadway. Its floor is a timber deck over I-beam stringers and it is of steel, rigid-connected lattice pony truss construction with latticed guardrails. Only this bridge and another also built by Canton Bridge Company, and also crossing Willow Creek in Pierce(Submitted on September 28, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)County, were surviving in 1992.Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 24, 20223. Willow Creek Bridge
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 24, 2022
4. Willow Creek Bridge Commemorative Plate
Geo. Holmes and Jacob Pilger, Commissioners,
J.B. McDonald, County Clerk
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 24, 2022
5. Willow Creek Bridge
Credits. This page was last revised on September 28, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 28, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 331 times since then and 42 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 28, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
