Township Road 241 Bridge

Township Road 241 Bridge. . , The Township Road 241 Bridge (TR 241 Bridge) is a wrought iron Pratt through-truss that spanned the Blanchard River for 114 years. It was originally located on Township Road 241, which now forms the western boundary of Riverbend Recreation Area. Cast iron plaques bolted to the top of two portals have the names of Hancock County Commissioners who purchased the bridge and the name of the company that built it in 1895. , , The history of the TR 241 Bridge is not written in books and newspapers or seen in photographs. Its story is in the metal members that make up the bridge, wrought iron making process, and fabrication methods used in its construction. , , In less than ten years after the bridge was erected, ninety percent of the highway bridges would be made of steel. A high degree of skill from many iron craftsmen was needed to produce wrought iron. It could not compete with steel that was mass produced at low cost. , , Following the fabrication of the TR 241 Bridge, it was likely painted with a mixture of lead and oil and then shipped from Canton, Ohio by rail. At a rail siding in Findlay, the bridge would have been unloaded, secured to a wagon, and delivered to the erection site. , , Those who watched the bridge being erected in 1895 recorded nothing of their impressions on that day. By 1895 the erection of an iron truss bridge was a common site across the country and the new iron truss bridge spanning the Blanchard River was seen as nothing more than an improvement to Township Road 241. To know the value of this wrought iron bridge is to carefully read the unwritten words the craftsmen left in building the TR 241 Bridge. , , Source: Vern Mesler, Township Road 241 Bridge, 2008