Stone Arch Bridges

In a very interesting series of articles entitled “A Story About Bridges.” Walter Sharp describes some of the story behind Cowley County’s stone arch bridges. In this article, Walter Sharp subtly tells what prompted Cowley to stop building stone bridges and why bridge construction began to cost more.

Chapter 3

“About 1917 the county commissioners made the levy to build the Ninth avenue bridge, Winfield, and Country club bridge at Arkansas City, both bridges being across the Walnut river, $20,000 for Arkansas City bridge and $25,000 for Winfield bridge.

“After the taxes were paid in and the money was available, the county board composed of Billie Huston, Bob Goforth and Carl Dees, began looking for plans after consulting with Mr. Bradley (who had always made plans for Cowley county) they decided to take Mr. Bradley’s advice and send for the state engineer to come to Winfield and personally inspect these locations as the plans must have the approval of the state engineer before they would be legal plans. The state engineer’s office was notified and in a short time Mr. Epps, state bridge engineer, came to Winfield and with the county commissioners, including the fourth county commissioner and Mr. Bradley, went to these bridge sites. Billie Huston told Mr. Epps his preference was for a stone arch, but Mr. Epps told the board that the state engineer’s office never furnished stone arch plans for a county unless it was for small culverts. The larger bridge plans had to be furnished by the county and their office approved or rejected the plans and if this county wished to hire someone to make the plans he could recommend three engineering firms that made plans that the state engineer’s office would approve. Herrington, Howard and Ash of Kansas City was the firm the board selected to make the plans for both bridges. After a few weeks the plans were made and approved by the state engineer’s office, but the bill filed with the county clerk for $1765 took all the wind out of this said county board. They paid it and put the plans away very carefully and said but little about it. The wooden floors on these old steel bridges gave out and the board decided on advertising for bids on the state approved plans. The state engineer’s estimate for the Ninth avenue bridge was $25,000; the Arkansas City bridge $20,000. There was only one bid, The Topeka Bridge Co., some three or four thousand dollars above the estimate.

“War time prices still prevailed and the board decided to lay the plans away and fix up the old floors. So these plans went into seclusion for another year or two. Finally in December, 1919, the board came to an agreement to again advertise for bids. Billie Huston at this time was in Kansas City taking treatment and only the Country club bridge was included in this bridge letting of Jan. 8, 1920, but by agreement Billie was to let the Ninth avenue bridge any time he saw fit. The state engineer making another estimate raising the estimate on the Arkansas City bridge to $25,000, and $31,500 on the Ninth avenue bridge; later Jim Bradley again raised the estimate to $40,000. Billie Huston returned from Kansas City, I think about the holidays, full of life and activity. I met him on the street and he did look very much improved. He told me it would be necessary for him to go to the hospital and undergo a minor operation and in about 10 days he would be all right again; he said he hadn’t entirely lost hope that he would yet get plans for a fine stone arch and if he didn’t get them he would have to take the state approved plans the county already had on hands, which wasn’t what he wanted, but the best he could do.

“Billie told he was going to the hospital on the morrow and would be out in 10 days, but Billie didn’t know. I didn’t see Billie again until I attended his funeral a few days later. Billie Huston’s work on earth was done.

“Mr. Jim Crotsley was appointed to fill out the time until the next regular election and Mr. Crotsley carried out all the plans and agreements Billie had made with the other members of the board and the public as far as I know and feel safe in saying the Ninth avenue bridge is just what the plans called for. The contract price was $38,333, the plans cost $882.50, the inspecting $924.00; a total of $40,000, that much anyhow. I want to pause here long enough to ask the reader if he or she thinks there are ten men who could carry forty thousand silver dollars from the county treasurer’s office to the bank at the corner of Ninth and Main? My guess is, that they couldn’t do it; I would also say that 20 men picked at random wouldn’t all get there with their load. There are 7,000 grains in a pound of 16 ounces; a silver dollar weighs 12 1-2 grains, figure it out. But Mr. Whorton didn’t get any men to carry these silver dollars to the bank. The claim record in the county clerk’s office has a note on the margin which reads, ‘sent to bank at Yates Center,’ so we find these dollars taken from the banks of Cowley county and sent to Yates Center. Of course these fellows that worked on the bridge had to pay their board, and Steve Paris furnished the crushed rock and a part of it came back.

“You may or may not like the two bridges planned by Herrington, Howard and Ash. I am leaving the matter entirely with you. I must turn my attention to Bob Goforth and the third Commissioner district. Bob was loyal to the members of the first and second districts when they wanted to bridge the Walnut river at Winfield and Arkansas City, now Bob is in the same boat; he has an old steel bridge that has played out; the bridge over Grouse creek between Cambridge and Burden. This bridge is unsafe for travel.

“More than two years ago the county board made a levy and tax payers paid into the treasury $7,500 to build this bridge. Probably no stream in Kansas has as many stone bridges as Grouse creek, in fact every bridge its entire length is a stone bridge, except the one mentioned[,] a steel bridge at Silverdale, another at Dexter and a concrete bridge at Dexter. And Mr. Goforth is very much in favor of building a fine stone arch at this crossing. The old steel bridge sets at an angle that makes out of the road a letter ‘S.’ Mr. Goforth wants to straighten the road with a fine stone bridge that will be a credit to him and the tax payers that furnish the money. Judge Fuller owns the land just west. One of the finest ledges of rock 24 inches in thickness and as large as I would want lay there all uncovered ready to split up into bridge material. Judge Fuller says to the county, ‘Come, get all those rocks you want and they won’t cost a cent.’
Build a bridge that will last always, using home material, home labor, and we will have both the bridge and the money. Bob has been working faithfully all these two years. The other members of the board are with him and are ready to help him all they can. The tax payers have furnished the money, yet Bob hasn’t gotten far enough along to get the plans made and each day the old bridge gets weaker.”

Walter Sharp, “A Story About Bridges,” The Winfield Daily Courier, May 10, 1922.

The Cambridge Bridge mentioned was not built in stone; the state did not approve the stone bridge plans. By the 1920s, the stone arch bridge era had effectively come to a close in Cowley County, as the affordable rubble-arch stone bridges like those Walter Sharp built did not meet the state requirements; the state engineer’s approval was required for any bridge costing above $2,500. That said, there is a bridge in Cowley that for sure dates after 1922. This is an interesting case, and is the 1935 Dr. Snyder Bridge over Spring Creek near Arkansas City. Save for the concrete railing, this bridge actually looks very much like Cowley’s other stone bridges and not like the typical WPA era stone bridge. The details behind its construction are not obvious at this point, but it is worth mentioning that Kansas’s road laws were being reformed starting about 1923, in response to a movement behind which Walter Sharp was an important player.

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