The Carrollton Bridge

Text reads: “A dam built at Pittsburg, six miles to the south, created “Lake Wabash,” a slackwater deep enough in the river for canal boats to cross at the Carrollton Bridge and to follow the east river bank for three miles to Paragon where they could again re-enter the Canal.”

Text reads: "The Canal engineer ordered bridge trusses built to a patented design of Colonel Stephen H. Long, a noted explorer of the American West and Commander of the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Long patented three cutting-edge bridge designs in the 1830's, the last two of which might have been used as the pattern at Carrollton."

Text reads: "The 1838 Pittsburg dam was the longest in the state of Indiana." "Photo courtesy Charles E. Gerard Photography Collection"

Text reads: "A group surveying the old canal towpath from Delphi to Logansport in 1921 paused on the second Carrollton Bridge for a photo." "Photo from Benjamin Stuart, History of the Wabash and Valley 1924"

Text reads: "Even before an 1873 storm destroyed Long’s timber trusses the Canal had fallen into disuse, and local authorities had assumed responsibility for the crossing. The Carroll County Commissioners ordered the construction of five new iron bowstring bridges in 1874, including replacement spans for Carrollton, from the Massillon Bridge Company of Massillon, Ohio. All five bridges were built to Joseph Davenport’s patented “Wrought Iron, Howe Truss Arch” design. One of these bowstrings can be seen at the Canal Park Annex in Delphi."

Text reads: "Daniel B. Luten designed the six-span concrete bridge erected in 1927 and still serving traffic today. Luten (1869-1946) of Indianapolis held more U.S. patents on concrete bridge design and construction than any other person. His single-tier of reinforcing in the arch ring and extension of it into the piers, for example, allowed him to safely halve the amount of steel and concrete used with more conventional design. Luten’s inventive efficiencies underline why thousands of concrete bridges to his various forms were constructed in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in the early 20th century."

Text reads: "The underwater timber foundations of the stone piers erected for the 1844 covered bridge and reused for the 1874 iron spans can still be seen a few yards upstream when the river is low and clear."

The freshness of the bridge -and- this plaque seems to indicate that the bridge was up-dated in 2008.