The bridge spans the Wapsipinicon River in the unincorporated community of Paris, Iowa. It has a single 160-foot (49 m) main span and timber stringer approach spans for a total length of 208-foot (63 m). It cost $4,964.72, to build, of which $3,000 was for the superstructure. Its superstructure is an 11-panel, pin-connected Whipple through truss.[2]
The bridge is significant as a "rare example of a double-intersection Pratt truss," which is a kind of Whipple truss. Its diagonals extend over two panels, and are made of wrought iron, suited for their being under tension. The Whipple truss design was developed by engineer Squire Whipple in 1847.[2]
As of 1994, it was the longest of only eight pin-connected Whipple through truss bridges surviving in Iowa. It then carried "intermittent" traffic in a setting largely unchanged since 1879.[2]
