Jackson Creek Road Bridge - Revision history

Matthew at 03:01, 14 November 2020

2020-11-14T03:01:21Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:01, 14 November 2020
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	~~== Jackson Creek Road Bridge ==~~

	[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge1.jpg]]		[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge1.jpg]]

Matthew at 03:54, 26 October 2018

2018-10-26T03:54:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:54, 26 October 2018
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	* Left: Detail of the spandrels, taken from the northern side. Center: the eastern span as it arcs across the Uwharrie, with the Lake Reese dam in the background. Right: Another shot of the spandrels, taken from the new bridge.		* Left: Detail of the spandrels, taken from the northern side. Center: the eastern span as it arcs across the Uwharrie, with the Lake Reese dam in the background. Right: Another shot of the spandrels, taken from the new bridge.

	[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge8.jpg\|~~200x~~]][[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge9.jpg\|200px]]		[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge8.jpg\|200px]][[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge9.jpg\|200px]]

	* L & R: Looking across the bridge from different angles.		* L & R: Looking across the bridge from different angles.

Matthew at 03:53, 26 October 2018

2018-10-26T03:53:39Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:53, 26 October 2018
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	=== Pictures ===		=== Pictures ===

			[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge2.jpg\|200px]][[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge3.jpg\|200px]][[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge4.jpg\|200px]]

			* Various oblique shots of the bridge, taken from its northern side.

			[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge5.jpg\|200px]][[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge6.jpg\|200px]][[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge7.jpg\|200px]]

			* Left: Detail of the spandrels, taken from the northern side. Center: the eastern span as it arcs across the Uwharrie, with the Lake Reese dam in the background. Right: Another shot of the spandrels, taken from the new bridge.

			[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge8.jpg\|200x]][[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge9.jpg\|200px]]

			* L & R: Looking across the bridge from different angles.

			[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge10.jpg\|200px]]
			[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge11.jpg\|200px]]

			* Left: detail of the "fence" style railing. Right: the interesting block at the end of the bridge, noticeably robbed of its plaque.

Matthew: Created page with "== Jackson Creek Road Bridge == File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge1.jpg This bridge is one of the six remaining open-spandrel arch bridges in North Carolina. Compared to the ot..."

2018-10-26T03:50:30Z

Created page with "== Jackson Creek Road Bridge == File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge1.jpg This bridge is one of the six remaining open-spandrel arch bridges in North Carolina. Compared to the ot..."

New page

== Jackson Creek Road Bridge ==

[[File:JacksonCreekRoadBridge1.jpg]]

This bridge is one of the six remaining open-spandrel arch bridges in North Carolina. Compared to the other five, it is a small, unimposing structure whose thin, long arches make it resemble a tee-beam bridge in certain respects. At the same time, it is a rather graceful structure, with its thin profile, the way it seems to skip across the shallow watercourse of the Uwharrie River. With the bridge's relatively plain appearance and remote location, however, it seems that the arch design was chosen for practicality instead of for its aesthetics.

The bridge consists of two arch spans connected together by a central pier. The pier itself is rather simple in appearance and seems to be more suited for a truss or tee-beam bridge than an arch bridge. The central spandrel of the bridge features a small indents in the concrete, but that is about the extent of the ornamentation of the outside of the bridge.

The bridge's deck has a distinctive rise and fall to it, with its peak at the center of the bridge. It would certainly be interesting to know why the engineers chose to do this, as opposed to having it flat. The original concrete road deck has been paved over with asphalt, which has also deteriorated.

The rail-fence style railing on the bridge is not a standard plan used on 1920s highways in North Carolina, which allows for the possibility that this was a county instead of a state project when it was built. The vast majority of bridges built during this time feature solid concrete wall railings with square insets. The concrete blocks which the railings tie into feature such insets. Each one of these is capped with a mansard roof-like piece of concrete, one of the bridge's more attractive decorations. One of these blocks once held the bridge's plaque.

Today this bridge has been bypassed by an ugly, overbuilt modern bridge that seems out of place on this scarcely-traveled Randolph County back road. Fortunately, the DOT elected to leave the old one in place, albeit in a somewhat dilapidated state. These 1920s arch bridges are in general well-constructed (even though this one looks frailer than most), so without the continual pounding of traffic it should remain standing in its current state for a long time. It would be nice if the nearby City of Asheboro park absorbed the bridge and kept the vegetation down around it, but this is will probably never happen.

The bridge is adjacent to the dam for Lake Reese, Asheboro's water source.

=== Facts ===

* Year built: 1924
* Route Carried: NC 1314 (Jackson Creek Road)
* Crosses: Uwharrie River
* Location: Randolph County, NC
* Design: Two-span open-spandrel arch bridge
* Length of main span: 98.1 ft. Total length: 195.9 ft.
* Inside width: 11.2 ft., one lane
* National Bridge Inventory ID: 151042
* Coordinates: 35°40'50.99"N, 79°58'9.90"W

=== Pictures ===