It was in 1913 with the building of the triple-arch Esch’s Spur Bridge near Dexter that Cowley County began to seriously innovate in stone arch bridge designs. The backstory to the design of this historic bridge is an interesting one. Furthermore the Esch’s Spur Bridge was the first step in Cowley’s innovative efforts to improve waterway; the Neer Bridge near Cambridge represents another step in this process, and its design is simply brilliant.
Enter Daniel B. Luten
Daniel B. Luten is best known for his reinforced concrete arch bridge designs and his manipulation of the patent system. Though there are various opinions on his business practices, there can be no doubt but he was a brilliant engineer. He designed many innovative bridges, a vast number of which are still in use, and was constantly pushing forward to achieve better designs using less material in more effective ways to build stronger bridges. He landed the job (or, more correctly, the Topeka Bridge & Iron Company did; they were a licensed Luten company) to build several bridges in Cowley. One of theses bridges was in Winfield over the Walnut. Another one spanned Timber Creek at Winfield near Island Park; this bridge was even pictured in a brochure touting the advantages of Luten bridges that was published by Daniel Luten. Two of his bridges were in Arkansas City spanning the Arkansas river; one, the 1914 Chestnut Avenue Bridge, remains, though it is closed to traffic. He also built a major bridge over the Walnut River south of Rock known as the Morton Bridge. This 1916 bridge is still in use.
One of the ways Luten increased waterway was to build his arches as low-rise structures on piers. This largely did away with the problem of stream obstruction caused by the spandrel wall connecting a given pair of arches. Though Luten’s designs were concrete, it was decided to try out the same idea in stone. The first bridge to be built this way was the Esch’s Spur Bridge near Dexter.
Esch’s Spur Bridge
The Esch’s Spur Bridge followed the same broad pattern as the Luten concrete bridges. The arches are relatively low-rise, and span 50 feet each. This new innovation in arch building proved a rather costly one for Walter Sharp, the builder, for one of the arches failed during construction immediately after the falsework supporting it was removed. The thrust from the low-rise arch was sufficient to cause it to slide out when not braced with an adjacent span. This accident, which apparently is still recalled (or, rather, a handed-down account of it) by some people in Cowley, did not prevent Sharp from succeeding; it was part of the learning process. The Esch’s Spur Bridge, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is still intact, though partially collapsed, and in danger of total failure or total replacement. See Esch’s Spur Bridge: Its Legacy for more on the bridge.
Who actually designed the Cowley bridges is somewhat of a riddle. Walter Sharp was considered by the newspapers as the designer of the Esch’s Spur Bridge. On the other hand, Walter Sharp himself claimed that County Surveyor Bradley designed all of Cowley’s major stone bridges. That said, though Bradley no doubt was responsible for some of the details such as size, etc. for the Luten bridges, it is highly improbable he actually designed them. Also, there was a time in Cowley when the builders contributed their own designs. And, finally, Walter Sharp was frequently consulted with when designing various bridges. Probably the designing of the Cowley stone bridges was done by several people overall, though Bradley probably turned all this into a final plan.
The Neer Bridge
The Neer Bridge near Cambridge represents the next step after the Esch’s Spur Bridge. While the Esch’s Spur Bridge has three low-rise arches ending in substantial abutments (necessary to keep the arches stable) the Neer Bridge is subtly different. At a glance the Neer Bridge looks similar in basic principle to the Esch’s Spur Bridge. There is a pier with a cutwater, and the arches start at a level well above low water, at least on the pier itself. However, a look at the bank ends of the arches show that they end at the low-water level! This means the two arches are lopsided; the pier ends of the arches are higher than the bank ends. This clever design works well. Not only is there still relatively little obstruction presented to the stream, but by rounding out the ends of the arches it was no longer necessary to use massive abutments, making a lighter, simpler bridge without obstructing the stream.
Though relatively little was said in the newspapers about the current Neer Bridge, this Walter Sharp bridge is a masterpiece of engineering design. It replaced a 1913 stone bridge at the same site which had washed out; the ruins of the old bridge are still readily visible, including in the picture above. See The Story of the Neer Bridge in Cowley County, Kansas for more details.
This idea of building lopsided arches is an unusual one and makes the Neer Bridge arguably the most unusual stone bridge in Cowley, and even Kansas. Even on a national and worldwide level this subtle design feature is a rare and brilliant one. From an engineering perspective, the Neer Bridge is arguably the most meritorious of Cowley’s bridges. It is also one of the largest and most picturesque. Perhaps this bridge will be added to the National Register of Historic Places someday. The Neer Bridge is truly one of Cowley’s masterpieces.
Stone Arch Bridges 