Old US-12 / Coldwater River

County: Branch

City/Township: Coldwater

Location: Old US-12 / Coldwater River

Year Built: 1920

About this Bridge:
The Old U. S. Highway 12 Bridge is eligible for the National Register as an excellent representative example of a state standard plan riveted Pratt pony truss.

This structure was built by the Brookville Bridge Company for the Michigan State Highway Department in 1920 as a trunk line bridge. The April 1920 issue of Michigan Roads and Forests showed the amount of the Brookville contract to be $10,779.78. The total construction cost was about $12,000. The city of Coldwater has no historical records for the bridge, but they assumed responsibility for the structure when it was abandoned by the state in 1933, according to the city's Chief Engineer Fred Lilue. At that time, the state rerouted US-12 over a nearby new steel stringer structure to improve the road's alignment.