This line eventually became a part of the Quincy, Omaha and Kansas City Railroad which ran across Missouri from Quincy, Illinois to Kansas City. The railroad would be sold to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and abandoned between 1939 and 1942.
08/18/21
One of the most unique bridges in Missouri sits as a feature of a park in Parkville.
The bridge originally was built to cross Linn Branch Creek near Trimble, Missouri in nearby Clinton County.
The truss is a Waddell "A" Truss design, and is one of only two surviving structures as such in the United States.
This truss type was patented by John Alexander Low Waddell as a short to medium size crossing of a body of water.
The only other surviving truss of this type is in Shreveport, Louisiana. This bridge was built for the Kansas City Southern Railway.
The truss bridge in Parkville was originally built in 1898, by the contractor A&P Roberts Company. The location was just east of Trimble.
When the railroad ceased operations in 1939, the road was converted to State Highway 4. This road was discontinued prior to 1980, when Smithville Lake was created by impounding the nearby Little Platte River.
In 1980, the truss would be disassembled from the original location. In 1987, a group of volunteers moved it to Parkville to cross Rush Creek. As part of the project, a Civil Engineering professor and his students from the University of Missouri at Kansas City designed the crossing for the City of Parkville.
As a result, the bridge won an award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for community involvement and re-erection of the structure.
Upon relocation, the bridge would be extensively rehabilitated and placed onto new concrete abutments. A coat of silver paint would be applied and it would become a prime feature of the English Landing Park.
The truss design is simple, and consists of 4 panels of truss, which form a simple A shape. These connections are pin connected.
At the original location, the bridge was set onto steel columns and was approached by beam spans.
The author has ranked this bridge as being nationally significant, due to it being one of only two of this design in America.
Fortunately, the city of Parkville and the volunteers that made the rehabilitation possible understood the true value of preserving the bridge.
The way in which this bridge has been preserved should be an example for all other bridge preservation projects in the United States. This bridge will last for generations at its current location.
The photo above is an overview. Historic photos are from the Historic American Engineering Record. A copy of the National Register of Historic Places nomination can be seen Here.