Do You Know This Structure?
Answers: 1.c) Wolcott; 2.c) 1916; 3.c) concrete arch Since its completion in 1916, the Wolcott Bridge has remained in continuous use on State Highway 131 between Eagle and Steamboat Springs. The bridge is comprised of two elliptical concrete filled-spandrel arches; each arch spans 58 feet, creating an overall length of 117 feet. Ornamentation is limited to incised rectangular panels that fill its solid concrete guardrails. Indianapolis engineer Daniel B. Luten patented this design, based upon an arch-reinforcing scheme developed by Austrian engineer Josef Melan, in 1905. Luten’s filled-spandrel arch was the most widely built of the proprietary arch bridge types in America. Fred M. Bullen and his son Joseph, owners of the Pueblo Bridge Company, functioned as licensees to Luten and paid patent royalties to the designer. The Bridge Company designed and built Luten arches around the state. The Pueblo Bridge Company extensively promoted Luten’s trademark
elliptical arch, which was often called a horseshoe arch because
of its distinctive profile. The company frequently bid for county
bridge contracts. The company’s unceasing self-promotion distinguished
it as Colorado’s most prolific bridge builder in the first
two decades of the 20th century. The company built scores of Luten
arches of varying sizes in Colorado during this period. Today only
16 remain in place. A well-preserved example of proprietary concrete bridge design
of the early 20th century, the Wolcott Bridge is listed in the National
Register of Historic Places. |
