South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 63-132-040 explained

South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 63-132-040
Coordinates:43.445°N -97.1358°W
Builder:Turner County Highway Dept.; Work Progress Administration
Architecture:Stone arch
Added:September 29, 1999
Area:less than one acre
Mpsub:Historic Bridges in South Dakota MPS
Refnum:99001215

South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 63-132-040 is a historic bridge in rural Turner County, South Dakota. Built in 1939, it is a well-preserved period stone-arch bridge, built with funding from a New Deal jobs program. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Description and history

Bridge No. 63-016-150 is located in rural northern Turner County, carrying 272nd Street over an unnamed stream, between 453rd Avenue and South Dakota Highway 19. It is a two-arch stone structure, with a total length of about 24feet. Its two arches are segmental, with a span of 10feet, and rise about 12inches above the grade. The bridge has stone wing walls, which rise to low parapets that serve as curbing for the roadway. The bridge is fashioned out of locally quarried fieldstone, most of which is roughly cut and randomly laid. The finished surfaces have been trimmed and squared.[1]

This bridge is one of 180 stone arch bridges built in Turner County as part of a New Deal-era federal jobs program, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). The county administration was able to build stone bridges at a lower cost than then-conventional steel beam bridges because of the availability of experienced stone workers, and the federal subsidy to the wages they were paid. The county was responsible for supervising the work crews and providing the building materials. This bridge was built in 1935 by a county crew to a standardized state design. It is one of only two bridges in the county built with FERA funding; others were built with later Works Progress Administration funds.[1]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: [{{NRHP url|99001215}} NRHP nomination for South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 63-132-040]. National Park Service. 2017-12-16.