County: Allegan
City/Township: Allegan
Location: 2nd St. / Kalamazoo River
Year Built: 1886
About this Bridge:
The Second Street Bridge is a Whipple-Murphy or Pratt through-truss iron and structural steel bridge. Decoration of the bridge is limited to the lattice work employed for stability in many of the bridge's structural components, iron finials on the end posts, and latticed metal handrails, one of which flanks a wood-floored pedestrian walkway.
The King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Ohio, fabricated this single-span bridge in 1886. In 1981, the city of Allegan, by receiving federal approval and funding for its restoration, saved half the cost of replacement. They moved the bridge to dry land, where the construction firm replaced the iron vertical compression members with structural steel members and completed other needed repairs. Following the rehabilitation, which included a new paint job, the contractor returned the bridge to its abutments, and in June 1983, Allegan marked the reopening of this historic bridge with a three-day civic celebration dubbed "Bridgefest," a tradition that continues to this day.
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