EVALUATION OF PRE-1950 BRIDGES OF NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBILITY

A survey was conducted of pre-1950 beam and slab bridges in the state of Tennessee. The types of bridges found were concrete slab, through girder, deck girder (steel, concrete and timber), and culverts. Simple, continuous and cantilever span types were identified. A historical context of the material and bridge type is provided. The survey inventoried 3,062 bridges, with 32 being examined in more detail. Of the 31 examined in more detail, six were through girders, one was a 1915 slab, one was a 1920 two-way slab with column capitals, two were cantilever bridges, two were 1925 continuous concrete deck girder bridges built by Steel and Lebby, one 1917 concrete deck girder, two 1918 concrete deck girders, the 1919 Gay Street Viaduct in Knoxville, a 1929 concrete deck girder built by Bell and Bell, a concrete deck girder bridge over the dam at Standing Stone Park, a concrete deck girder on the side of Lookout Mountain, a memorial concrete deck girder bridge built in 1949, one was a 1910 steel I beam bridge, one was a 1935 steel I beam, and nine were bridges built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Although strictly not part of the time period of the survey, one additional bridge was surveyed: a 1950 post-tensioned concrete block bridge in Madison County was also included, as it was the first prestressed bridge in the United States. Ten other similar post-tensioned bridges built in the early 1950's were also identified. Bridges that are recommended for being eligible for the National Register are identified.