Middle Bridge – Dresden ME

Description

The Middle Bridge is 296 foot Warren (Riveted) Through Truss bridge that carries Route 197 (Patterson Road) over the Eastern River in Dresden Maine.

The Middle Bridge was completed in 1936 to replace a previous bridge after the Flood of 1936. The previous bridge was a wooden stringer bridge supported on stacked stone abutments and timber cribbing. The bridge included a wooden king post truss drawbridge. The bridge was located just north of the previous structure and diverted the roadway to higher ground. The bridge’s elevation was raised up to nearly 130’. Substantial
roadway approaches were graded to meet the new bridge’s height. The bridge also received substantial concrete abutments. The truss chords are built-up sections, along with the portal bracing and sway bracing. It features rolled verticals, diagonals, and floorbeams. The truss has a polygonal top chord. A state highway commission reports that it was one of 26 bridges that were built by U.S. Works Program Flood Relief projects and were handled under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Public Roads, U.S. Department of Agriculture. All bridges were placed under construction in 1936 and some had labor supplied by the Works Progress Administration.