I include the label "metalIron" because this bridge is made with wrought iron instead of steel.
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| Facebook Reel |
"Built 1877 by the Massillon Bridge Co. Pinned Pratt variant that features double-intersecting counters, where Whipple trusses feature double-intersecting diagonals. The Wrought Iron Bridge Company version of this truss has been referred to as a Hammond Truss, but this is the only known example built by another firm." [BridgeHunter]
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| HistoricBridges "Finally, the most significant feature of this bridge is its extremely rare truss configuration. The main diagonals follow the Pratt configuration, with the counters following the Whipple configuration. The design of this rare truss is illustrated in the diagram above. It is unknown how or why this truss configuration was attempted, or if it was given an official name. However, it may have been "stolen" from a patent that competitor Wrought Iron Bridge Company filed in 1876. The patent claimed several things, among them a Pratt truss configuration with counters spanning two panels. Whether Massillon Bridge Company really was trying to violate Wrought Iron Bridge Company's patent, or if they came up with this design independently and unknowingly is not known. However given that the two companies were highly prolific and were based in cities that are located adjacent to each other, it would be a rather curious coincidence. The bridge companies did compete against each other and patent violations and conflicts did occur. Making matters more suspicious is that The Whites Ridge Road Bridge and some other early Massillon pin-connected Whipple truss bridges display built up vertical members that are also strikingly similar to another Wrought Iron Bridge Company patent for a vertical member with a double-intersecting (Whipple) diagonal. Whether or not the Whites Ridge Road Bridge is an example of a patent violation or not remains speculation, but the fact remains that this bridge's unusual truss configuration is the same as what is seen in the Wrought Iron Bridge Company patent diagram and description. The Bertram Road Bridge in Iowa is the only example on HistoricBridges.org of Wrought Iron Bridge Company employing these patents, and also the only other documented example of a truss bridge following this hybrid truss configuration. Other examples may exist, but HistoricBridges.org has yet to find them. Be sure to check out the Bertram Road Bridge since links and drawings of the Wrought Iron Bridge Company patent are available on the page." |
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| 1904/43 Waynesburg Quad @ 62,500 |



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