Waddell "A" Truss Bridge

Waddell "A" Truss Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	English Landing Park, over Rush Cr., Parkville, Missouri
Coordinates	39°11′9″N 94°40′55″W / 39.18583°N 94.68194°WCoordinates: 39°11′9″N 94°40′55″W / 39.18583°N 94.68194°W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1898
Architect	Waddell,John Alexander; Et al.
Architectural style	Waddell "A" truss, Other
NRHP Reference #	90002173[1]
Added to NRHP	January 25, 1991

The Waddell "A" Truss Bridge in Parkville, Missouri, also known as Linn Branch Creek Bridge, was built in 1898.^[1] It was designed by engineer John Alexander Low Waddell and is the subject of a U.S. patent, U.S. Patent 529,220.^[2]

Waddell went on to become a distinguished engineer of many lift-type bridges (which this is not).

The Waddell "A" Truss Bridge spanned the Linn Branch Creek, in Missouri, but was removed for the construction of Smithville Lake.

The bridge served rail traffic until 1939, and then road traffic for Missouri Hwy 4 from 1953-1980. It was dismantled in 1981 and moved to its current location at English Landing Park in Parkville, MO, in 1987.^[3]

A second Waddell "A" Truss bridge spans the Cross Bayou in Shreveport, Louisiana. Now abandoned, the bridge once carried the Kansas City Southern Railway across the bayou. Like the Missouri bridge, the Cross Bayou bridge is recognized as a historic site by the City of Shreveport.^[4]

References

1. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
3. Bridge's historical marker "Facts and Figures" plate