JACK GLASS/JERICHO ROAD BRIDGE - BETHLEHEM, GEORGIA

Jack Glass/Jericho Road Bridge one Jack Glass/Jericho Road, approximately 4 miles SE of Bethlehem, in Walton/Barrow Counties, in Georgia. Intersected-Jack Glass/Jericho Road over Apalachee River. Construction Date-1930. Structure Length-79.7, Main Span Length-70.7'. Roadway Width-9.8'. Structure Type: One Span, Metal 5 Panel Rivet-Connected Warren Pony Truss, Fixed. Wood plank deck. Builder/Contractor: Leamon and Evans of Atlanta, Georgia. Rehabilitation Date-N/A. Inventory Number-29750150 GPS: 33.913540, -83.665280.

Note: This bridge is an example of a bridge that demonstrates the transition from built-up beams to rolled beams for use in bridge work. Earlier in the history of iron and steel bridges, built-up beams were employed because the mills were incapable of rolling beams as large as were needed for a bridge. As such, rolled beams would only be found for smaller structural elements on a bridge, and/or riveted to other rolled beams when forming a built-up beam. The Jack Glass Road Bridge, is different however. In this case, the largest beams, the top chord and end post, are rolled, while all the other smaller truss members are built-up beams. This suggests a period in which the mills were capable of rolling large beams, but at a higher cost, and such, built-up beams remained less expensive. As a result, with this bridge, builders selected a rolled beam for the top chord, which would have been stronger and more reliable than a built-up beam, while employing the less expensive rolled beams for the other members. (Sadly the bridge, several years ago, was closed to severe damage to end post and some verticals. Since then has deteriorated greatly.