Great Falls Road/Collins River Bridge on Tennessee SR-287 in Rock Island, in Warren County, in Tennessee. Intersected- Great Falls Road (Tennessee SR-287) over Collins River. Construction Date-1889/1924. Structure Length-655', Main Span Length-246'. Roadway Width-15'. Structure Type: Metal 13 Panel Pin-Connected Parker Through Truss, Fixed and Approach Spans: Metal 10 Panel Rivet-Connected Parker Through Truss, Fixed. Spans: 1 Main Span and 6 Approach Spans. Builder/Contractor: Mount Vernon Bridge Company of Mount Vernon, Ohio and Nashville Bridge Company of Nashville, Tennessee. Engineer/Design-Eugene F. Falconnet. Rehabilitation Date-1924. Inventory Number-890Z0010001. GPS: 35.799810, -85.620110.
Note: The bridge over the Collins River as seen today is configured from west to east as follows: 2 steel stringer spans, a five panel Warren pony truss, a 13 panel 1889 Pin-Connected Parker Through Truss Span, a 10 panel rivet-connected Parker Through Truss, a five panel Warren Pony Truss, and a steel stringer span. Presumably all spans except the Pin-Connected Parker Truss date to 1924. The 1924 truss spans are historically significant as representative examples of riveted truss spans built by an in-state bridge builder.
The bridge seen at this location was erected by the Nashville Bridge Company in 1924. However, the largest span of this bridge dates to a889, having been reused from a four span bridge in Nashville over the Cumberland River called the Hyde's Ferry Bridge or Bordeaux Bridge. One of the spans was also reused, but was destroyed in 2010 by a major regional flood. This bridge was over the South Harpeth River on Old Harding Road. The 1889 span is individually rare and significant as an extremely unusual variety of Parker Truss whose top chord has a very strongly defined elliptical arch shape. With the destruction of the other span in 2010, this is the only surviving span from Hyde's Ferry Bridge, and its design may be unique among surviving truss bridges in Tennessee and beyond.