Parke Lane Road – Thorofare Canal Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Parke Lane Road – Thorofare Canal Bridge is a bridge located on Parke Lane Road over the Thorofare Canal in Grosse Ile, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2000.
at the intersection of Park Road (now Parke Lane) with the Thorofare Canal. However, by 1929, the old bridge was deteriorating and the increasing volume of traffic and weight of vehicles had rendered the lightweight swing bridge obsolete. In 1929/1930, the Wayne County Road Commission replaced the old bridge with a concrete cantilevered-arch span.
concrete arch design. The traditional arch bridge
design requires a complete arch; in contrast, the cantilevered arch design is divided into two structurally independent half-arches which are each cantilevered from one side. A slab is suspended between the two cantilevered sections; in the Parke Lane Road – Thorofare Canal Bridge, this section is 18 feet long. Close inspection of side walls of the bridge reveals two seams marking the end of the cantilevered arms.
A concrete balustrade with urn-shaped spindles runs along each side of the roadway, terminating at each end in an octagonal lamp stand. Orange pebble aggregate is included in the spindle concrete mix for color and texture.
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2000.
History
Some time near the beginning of the twentieth century, Grosse Ile Township constructed a hand-operated swing bridgeSwing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
at the intersection of Park Road (now Parke Lane) with the Thorofare Canal. However, by 1929, the old bridge was deteriorating and the increasing volume of traffic and weight of vehicles had rendered the lightweight swing bridge obsolete. In 1929/1930, the Wayne County Road Commission replaced the old bridge with a concrete cantilevered-arch span.
Description
The Parke Lane Road – Thorofare Canal Bridge is 99 feet long, with span length of 51 feet and width of 36 feet. The bridge itself is of a rare cantileveredCantilever bridge
A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using cantilevers, structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses built from...
concrete arch design. The traditional arch bridge
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
design requires a complete arch; in contrast, the cantilevered arch design is divided into two structurally independent half-arches which are each cantilevered from one side. A slab is suspended between the two cantilevered sections; in the Parke Lane Road – Thorofare Canal Bridge, this section is 18 feet long. Close inspection of side walls of the bridge reveals two seams marking the end of the cantilevered arms.
A concrete balustrade with urn-shaped spindles runs along each side of the roadway, terminating at each end in an octagonal lamp stand. Orange pebble aggregate is included in the spindle concrete mix for color and texture.
Significance
This bridge is significant as an outstanding product of the Wayne County Road Commission's bridge engineers because of its aesthetically pleasing design matched to the surroundings and as a representative of the unusual concrete cantilevered-arch construction.External links
- Parke Lane Bridge from HistoricBridges.org: Multiple photographs of the bridge
- Parke Lane Road Bridge from Detroit1701.org: More photographs