Photo taken in August 2011
This next mystery bridge article takes us back to Iowa again- this time to a park complex west of Iowa City. There are some unique features that make the F.W. Kent Park in Tiffin special to the region. One of them is the number of historic bridges that were brought here and preserved. They all span various tributaries, lining up along the lake they empty into, the same lake that was created and is used for fishing and swimming. Each span has a different bridge type and a history of its own, including how it was moved here and preserved.
Like the one in the picture above. This bridge is touted as a roof-top truss bridge. Located at the very north tip of the lake, this bridge is different from all the other bridges, for it was homemade, originating from the trusses that were salvaged from an important building that was demolished in Iowa City prior to the creation of the park. It’s markings are similar to a series of bowstring arch bridges that were built in Crawford County, Iowa in 1945-6 including the Nishnabotna River crossing near Manila as seen below.
Photo courtesy of HABS/HAER
The difference is the fact that the Manila Bridge is the actual truss bridge itself with the lower chord (featuring lateral and diagonal bracing) supporting the roadway, whereas the the one at F.W. Kent Park features the trusses, used as decoration (or at least it appears to be used as that) and tacked onto the actual beam bridge itself. Furthermore, there are alternating vertical beams in the Tiffin Bridge, while the Manila Bridge has all verticals subdividing the rhombus, thus having an X-frame for each panel.
Despite the difference between the two, the roof-top truss bridge’s uniqueness is one of the reasons why it is a sin to not visit the park if you are a pontist driving through. It is even a bigger sin if one doesn’t know about its history, let alone how the park came into being in the first place. Henceforth, before explaining about the park further, the Chronicles has created a short quiz for you to answer, integrating this mystery bridge in with the questions pertaining to the park itself. So without further ado, here are the questions, created in a hybrid fashion:
1. The FW Kent Park is younger than the Historic Bridge Park near Kalmazoo, Michigan. True or False?
2. Which of the following truss bridge types can NOT be found at FW Kent Park?
a. Pratt b. Warren c. Whipple d. Queenpost
3. The origin of the Rooftop truss bridge was a building that was demolished in Iowa City. Can you name the building and when it existed?
4. How many bridges can be found at FW Kent Park?
a. 8 b. 10 c. 11 d. 13 e. 15
5. At least one bridge was airlifted to the Park. True or False?
6. All of the bridges brought in were the ones that served traffic in Johnson County. True or False?
7. How was the Rooftop truss bridge assembled?
8. What activities can you do at the park, apart from photographing bridges?
a. swimming b. hiking c. fishing d. biking e. all of the above
The answers will be revealed next week at this time. They will be eye-openers for there are some facts that were claimed to be correct, but the truth begs to differ. Plus there will be some interesting facts about who created the park and how the rooftop truss bridge was built. So stay tuned, take some guesses and allow yourself to learn some new things about historic bridges and how they found a new home in FW Kent Park. Good luck with the quiz! 