Rock Creek Truss Bridge - Sapulpa OK
N 35° 59.620 W 096° 08.170
14S E 758164 N 3987039
The 1925 steel truss bridge with distinctive brick decking over Rock Creek near Sapulpa OK has been part of historic Rte 66 and the Ozark Trail.
Waymark Code: WMGMPZ
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 03/21/2013
Views: 7
There is a small plaque on the bridge placed by the State of Oklahoma. The plaque reads as follows:
ROUTE 66 BRIDGE
This bridge was built in 1924 to serve the Ozark Trail. It became part of US Highway 66 in 1926 when the Chicago to Los Angeles route was initiated. The bridge served motorists traveling on US 66 until a new highway was built to the south in 1952. Plaque photo credit: blogoklahoma.us
From the National Park Service website: (
visit link)
"Of the great number of bridges built on Route 66, Bridge #18 at Rock Creek is one of the better examples of the remaining steel-truss bridges in Oklahoma. Truss bridges were developed in the mid-1800s and used extensively until World War II, when technology changed and more standardized concrete designs were developed.
In terms of lineage, the ancestor of the steel-truss bridge is the beam bridge, usually built of wood and limited in the amount of weight it could support. As a result, early roads generally followed old trails where rivers and creeks were shallow. Even bridges that were quite long were located at shallow crossings.
One of the oldest types of modern bridges, truss bridges were altogether something new. Bridge #18 at Rock Creek is composed of connected elements, in this case steel beams, which stressed by tension and compression (or sometimes both) in response to dynamic and heavier loads. Because of truss bridges, deeper water could be safely crossed. Roadways no longer had to meander from one low-water crossing to another. Instead they could be built along the shortest route. Bridge #18 is a Parker through truss bridge. Its ancestor is the beam bridge, while its descendants are today’s cantilever, truss-arch, and lattice bridges. Unusual for a steel truss bridge, #18 has brick decking.
Bridge #18 is an illustration of the bridges of its era. Route 66 travelers who crossed Rock Creek near Sapulpa during the late 1920s would have thought the bridge the most dynamic design of its time, and it was. Constructed in 1924, #18 served as part of the old Ozark Trail, one of the few marked U. S. roads at the time. It became part of Route 66 in 1926. Just over a decade later the State’s entire section of Route 66 was paved. The bridge served Route 66 until the construction of a new alignment in 1952. The bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1995." [end]