The Twin Bridge Through Truss is located in Danville, Indiana.

This historic bridge was in very bad shape, with floor beams that were beyond repair and had to be replaced.  The new floor beams were made just as the original beams were made, rather than standard I beam configuration, these beams were made of flat steel plate and steel angles all riveted together to form a very strong beam.

Besides the floor beams being built up riveted together, there were also many other rivets that had to be replaced on this structure  Ross Brown, blacksmith from the Delphi, Indiana area was called on to help with this portion of the work.  Blacksmithing is something of a lost art, but Ross always does a wonderful job.

Restoring a historic bridge such as this iron truss, is sometimes a challenge in just being able to access the area, and this bridge was no exception.  With having all the floor material off of the steel beams, and then all the steel beams removed, it is a challenge to get all the new material out in place, sometimes requiring just hard, hand work, incorporating such tools as manual operated come a longs and block and tackle.

Another interesting thing that is usually called for on these restorations, is being able to have new cast iron plaques to replace the original ones that are sometimes damaged beyond repair, or no longer exist.  In the case of no longer existing, some research is needed to find how they originally looked, and then being able to get them replicated.  Most plans will have that information, and with some research on the internet, they can be found.  We have had to make new letter castings of clay, and then make new acrylic letters from those, and then glue them in place on an appropriate shaped wood.  This mock up is then sent to a foundry so a cast iron plaque can be made as close to the original as possible.  The new ‘old’ plaque is then painted to make the letters and dates stand out, and mounted on the bridge.

Danville Twin Bridge