Durham County Bridge No. 28

The Old Oxford Highway Flat River Bridge

When a new modern-style eyesore bridge is thrown up, what usually follows is the scrapping of the old one, even if it is well away from the new one, even if it is far from collapsing. This sort of action is an complete waste of the taxpayer's money (when is that ever a deterrent?), as the costs of demolition invariably exceed the profit gained from scrap metal. The Old Oxford Highway Flat River Bridge is a notable instance where a highway department, specifically the truss bridge-hating North Carolina Department of Transportation, allowed the old bridge to continue standing in the shadow of its successor.

The bridge crosses over the Flat River, a tributary of the Neuse and one of the three rivers (the others being the Eno and the Little) that feed Falls Lake, Raleigh's main water source. It is a Warren pony truss bridge with three identical spans of 70 feet. While pony trusses are still relatively common (but dwindling), multi-span examples are uncommon. As far as I know it is the only three-span one in the state. The Warren truss configuration (distinguished by the "W" pattern of its diagonal members) is also relatively uncommon in NC today, compared to the handful of extant Pratt and Pratt-derived bridges, though this doesn't necessarily mean that few were built. In any case, this is a significant bridge and we are fortunate that it wasn't pointlessly demolished.

According to the Historical American Engineering Record, which documented this bridge around the time it was bypassed (in the 1980s), it exhibits "heavy construction" that "indicates that it was designed for a heavier volume of traffic than the road presently carries" (1). The road that the bridge once carried, Old Oxford Highway, was originally signed as NC 75, a road the followed the approximate path of US 15 today from Pittsboro to Oxford. However, by 1923 NC 75 had been placed on a different alignment to the east, a few years before this bridge had been built (2). Furthermore, none of the structural components on the bridge stand out as being "heavy." The bridge uses riveted gusset plate connections (instead of pinned ones), which at the turn of the century could have indicated that it was meant to carry heavy loads, By the 1920s, however, this type of connection was being used in most cases. The structural members are not large in comparison to some railroad bridges I have seen in the state. The bridge has a wooden deck (later paved over) and has only 15 feet of horizontal clearance, not enough for two cars to pass one another. Thus, it would appear that this bridge was erected as a secondary road crossing and not for the mainline highway (I'm not certain of this though).

The HAER also states that the bridge was built in 1925. Unfortunately the bridge is lacking any sort of plaque that would confirm this or identify its builder. The steel for the bridge was manufactured by Jones and Laughlin.

While the bridge is no doubt insufficient for carrying vehicle in its present state, it does appear to be in fair condition considering that nothing has been done to it for nearly three decades. The layer of asphalt over the pine planks has kept the deck from rotting and collapsing; the bridge feels very firm when you walk on it. Despite the rust and the inconsiderate weeds the bridge continues to support its own weight, plus that of the infrequent pedestrian. In the future, however, it would be nice to see this bridge receive some attention, at least in the form of vegetation removal.

Located near in the vicinity of this structure is the Stagville Plantation State Historic Site, which contains some of the most significant antebellum structures in the state. A road following the approximate path of Old NC 75 has existed in this area since at least 1881, but its existence may date back to the plantation.