East River Road–North Hickory Canal Bridge

	East River Road – North Hickory Canal Bridge
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Arch of bridge
Location	E. River Road over N. Hickory Canal, Grosse Ile, Michigan
Coordinates	42°5′46″N 83°9′2″W / 42.09611°N 83.15056°W
Area	0.9 acres (0.36 ha)
Built	1945
Architect	Wayne County Road Commission
Architectural style	concrete slab bridge
MPS	Highway Bridges of Michigan MPS
NRHP reference No.	00000042
Added to NRHP	February 4, 2000

The East River Road–North Hickory Canal Bridge is a bridge located on East River Road over the North Hickory Canal, connecting Grosse Ile, Michigan with Hickory Island to the south.^[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.^[1]^[2]

History

In the early part of the 20th century, the East River Road bridge over the North Hickory Canal was a timber structure.^[3] In 1944, the Wayne County Road Commission formulated plans to widen and straighten the southern section of road, moving it to the west.^[3] The original bridge was replaced with this structure, completed in 1945.^[3]

Description

The East River Road–North Hickory Canal Bridge is 64 feet (20 m) long with a main span length of 24 feet (7.3 m).^[2] The bridge is continuous concrete slab bridge.^[3] Wayne County used this type of bridge in the years during and after World War II, presumably because of the difficulty of obtaining steel during these years.^[3] The bridge has solid concrete parapet railings embedded with a pebble aggregate and trimmed with a horizontal line.^[2] The ends of the railings curve to follow the perpendicular wing walls.^[2] The piles of the bridge are octagonal, part of the road commission's continuous experimentation with bridge design.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Staff. "East River Road Bridge". State Historic Preservation Office. Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Staff (May 15, 2001). "East River Road–N. Hickory Canal Bridge". Michigan's Historic Bridges. Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 4, 2010.