Indian Mill Bridge Rehab

This single lane vehicular steel truss bridge allows access to the Indian Mill originally built in 1861. The mill was gift to the Wyandot Indian Nation from the US Government as a reward for their aid during the War of 1812. The original covered bridge on the site was replaced by the steel truss after a flood in 1913 destroyed the old structure. In 2010, the local community leaders deemed the old truss functionally obsolete and in desperate need of repair.

Because of the historic significance of the site and how integral the truss bridge had become to the overall landscape, the community would not be satisfied with anything less than the original bridge. The local galvanizer and bridge fabricator assured community leaders the original bridge could be rehabilitated; and in fact, be better than ever and able to last another hundred years.

Some engineering was required to bring the bridge to todays modern standards, but pieces of the original 100 year old steel was used which provided a great galvanizing finish. The bridge is in an area with very short summers and long difficult winters, which made the installation window short. The rapid, high-capacity turnaround of the local galvanizer was an important consideration. The rough installation environment and weather could cause substantial damage to other coating systems such as paint, and future maintenance would be difficult.

The County Engineer, who was initially very skeptical about allowing his bridge to be taken down, now considers the galvanizer and bridge fabricators as the saviors for this bridge. US Bridge, the fabricator, proposed launching their own Liberty Series Modular Truss Bridge through the existing truss. This approach eliminated all in-stream work, including the construction and removal of the temporary work platforms and piers.