New Richmond Swing Bridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The New Richmond Swing Bridge is a one lane swing bridge in Michigan. Located in Allegan County's Manlius Township, it carries 57th Avenue over the Kalamazoo River. The name New Richmond comes from a former mining town in the area of the same name.
It was built in 1879 at a time when the Kalamazoo River was navagable from Lake Michigan.
The bridge's four spans reach 429 feet. A manually operated swing span was in use as late as the 1925. It is one of the oldest metal truss bridges in the state of Michigan and the state's lngest pony truss bridge. It is also believed to be the oldest surviving highway swing bridge in the United States.
Closed to vehicular traffic in 1997 for safety reasons, the bridge is now used for pedestrians to access parkland on both sides of the river.
On April 1, 1998 the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places as structure #98000273.
[edit] External links
- Michigan Dept of Transportation article
- Allegan County website article
- Historic Bridges of Michigan and Elsewhere Discussion and Photos of bridge
- Holland Setinel article
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