Shellsburg's Spandrel Bridge

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 18, 2025

1. Shellsburg's Spandrel Bridge Marker

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From the National Register Nomination prepared by Clayton Fraser and Robert Hybben, 8/31/1994:
This medium-span concrete bridge carries Pearl Street across Bear Creek. The Shellsburg Bridge dates to 1915. That March the Benton County Board of Supervisors passed a Resolution of

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 18, 2025

2. Shellsburg's Spandrel Bridge Marker

The marker is mounted on the railing at the northeast corner of the bridge.

Necessity for the construction of a new 60-foot concrete arch bridge at this crossing. Using a special design by the Iowa State Highway Commission, the county solicited proposals from bridge companies to build the structure. On April 24th, the county received bids from Alfred Vinall, the Miller-Hey Construction Company, the Waterloo Construction Company, N.M. Stark, the Iowa Bridge Company and the Missouri Ballast and Construction Company.
The board awarded the contract to Vinall. He apparently completed the Shellsburg Bridge later that year for a total cost of $6081. Since that time the structure has functioned in place, with no substantial alterations.
The state highway commission designed numerous concrete structures in the 1910s, both as standard plans and special designs. These consisted of concrete slabs and culverts for short-span crossings and girders and arches for medium spans; for long-span applications, ISHC typically delineated arches. The highway commission eschewed ornamentation on its rural bridges as an unnecessary expense. Located in an urban setting, on the other hand, the Shellsburg Bridge featured a more studied

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 18, 2025

3. Shellsburg's Spandrel Bridge

The bridge has been repurposed as a pedestrian walkway.

architectural expression, with bichrome concrete detailing, molded concrete balustrades and incised spandrel panels. In this it differed from the majority of concrete structures built in Iowa in the mid-1910s.
With its handsomely detailed and proportioned 60-foot span, it is a well-preserved, relatively early example of urban bridge design by the state highway commission.

(From the Cedar Rapids Gazette July 26, 2015) Excerpt:  Shellsburg boasted a population of 550 in March 1915, when Benton County commissioners approved the construction of a new bridge to replace the Pearl Street bridge over Bear Creek. Alfred Vinall and his five sons came from Davenport to build the 60-foot span with a 24-foot roadway and 20-foot wings on each end. Work on the bridge began in June, but it was a rainy summer. Wet weather kept the work from proceeding as planned. Hiring workers seemed an ongoing problem as well. Vinall advertised for laborers in The Gazette's want ads for most of the summer. The closed-spandrel cement arch bridge with cement spindles was completed

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 18, 2025

4. Shellsburg's Spandrel Bridge (south side)

in September 1915, but wasn't yet ready for traffic. It took another month for the approaches to be filled in. After that, the road leading to the south end of the bridge had to be widened.

Excerpt:  The Shellsburg Bridge spans Bear Creek for 64 feet. In April 1915 the Benton County Board of Supervisors contracted with Alfred Vinall to build the new bridge near Shellsburg's downtown area. He used a special design by the Iowa State Highway Commission and completed the project in late 1915 for $6,081. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 18, 2025

5. Shellsburg's Spandrel Bridge (north side)