Hutsonville Bridge

The Hutsonville Bridge or Sullivan-Hutsonville Bridge connecting Crawford County, Illinois, and Sullivan County, Indiana, over the Wabash River, built 1939 and replaced in 1988, was an example of the relatively rare self-anchored suspension bridge type. It was designed by Robinson & Steinman, with R. V. Milbank as the resident chief engineer, and constructed by Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company as general contractor and Vincennes Steel Corporation as steel fabricators and Charles J. Glasgow as a subcontractor.

Hutsonville Bridge
Looking southwest from the Indiana side
Coordinates39°06′36″N 87°39′18″W
CarriesFormer Illinois Route 135/Indiana State Road 154
CrossesWabash River
LocaleHutsonville, Crawford County, Illinois/Graysville, Sullivan County, Indiana
Maintained byIndiana Department of Transportation (former)
Characteristics
DesignSelf-anchored suspension bridge
Total length1,002 feet (305 m)
Width2 lanes, 20 feet (6.1 m)
Height70.2 feet (21.4 m)
Longest span350 feet (110 m)
History
OpenedNovember 18, 1939
Closed1988
Statistics
Daily trafficvehicular, unknown
Self-anchorage detail, bridge deck view

Note the use of multiple independent cables, rather than a large single interleaved and sheathed cable, as is typical for larger suspension bridges, or eyebars, often used in smaller bridges such as the Pittsburgh Seventh Street Bridge, also self-anchored.

Although the bridge was determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 due to the rarity of its type,[1] the bridge was replaced in 1988 and demolished, with the replacement bridge being made of concrete and supported by pillars instead of suspension.


Self-anchorage detail, outside view
The replacement bridge, looking from Hutsonville toward Indiana

According to the Bridgemeister.com site referenced below, the demolition was controversial. The site in turn cites the September 26, 1988, issue of the Springfield, Illinois, State Journal-Register that the company to which the $100,000 demolition contract was let offered to turn the money over to save the bridge. The locals agreed, but the company's Chief Engineer Stephen Schneider was quoted, "I think Indiana really wants to tear it down. They've been ... forced to send inspectors out every two weeks. I think they just want the headache gone." Gary Abell, spokesman for the Indiana Dept. Of Highways said its design is "not one of the best. It works in theory, but not in practice. This is like trying to save a mistake." In 2002, an unnamed INDOT representative was cited as saying, "I am not sure why you are interested in that bridge, but from our standpoint, it was a very poorly designed bridge that had many problems from the day that it was completed, until it was brought down."

See also

References
  1. Indiana Department of Highways. "Hutsonville Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2019.

Further reading
  • Ratigan, W. (1959). Highways Over Broad Waters. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ASIN B0007IY0OC.
  • Cooper, James L. (1987). Iron Monuments to Distant Posterity: Indiana's Metal Bridges, 1870-1930.
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