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Trowbridge Road-Grand Trunk Western Railroad Bridge

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Coordinates: 42°34′50″N 83°13′51″W / 42.58056°N 83.23083°W / 42.58056; -83.23083 (Trowbridge Road--Grand Trunk Western Railroad Bridge)
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Trowbridge Road-Grand Trunk Western Railroad Bridge
Map
Interactive map
LocationTrowbridge Rd. over GTW Railroad, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Coordinates42°34′50″N 83°13′51″W / 42.58056°N 83.23083°W / 42.58056; -83.23083 (Trowbridge Road--Grand Trunk Western Railroad Bridge)
Arealess than one acre
Built1931 (1931)
Built byA. Guthrie and Company
ArchitectGrand Trunk Railroad
Architectural styleConcrete continuous T-beam
Demolishedc. 2019
MPSHighway Bridges of Michigan MPS
NRHP reference No.00000010[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 28, 2000
Removed from NRHPJune 10, 2023[2]

The Trowbridge Road-Grand Trunk Western Railroad Bridge was a bridge carrying Trowbridge Road over the Grand Trunk Western Railroad in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000[1] and removed in 2023.[2]

History

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In the late 1910s, there was significant pressure to upgrade Woodward Avenue, a major artery carrying traffic from Detroit to Pontiac. In response, the road commissions of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties and the affected municipalities created a regional master plan for improvements. In 1923, the state agreed to share in some of the cost of improving the infrastructure. The state led the effort to secure a right-of-way along the Woodward corridor; one of the major impediments was the existence of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad track paralleling Woodward.[3]

After protracted legal wrangling, the railroad and the state came to an agreement, and the tracks were shifted to a new location. As part of the new construction, a series of bridges were designed by the railroad to carry street over the new tracks. Sixteen bridges were built by A. Guthrie & Company of St. Paul, Minnesota in 1930, but the Trowbridge Road bridge was not completed until 1931.[3]

The bridge was closed in 2017, and as of 2019 was slated for demolition.[4] The bridge was later demolished, and subsequently removed[5] from the National Register.[2]

Description

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End of parapet

The Trowbridge Road bridge was a seven span, concrete T-beam structure. It was 231 feet long, with a 44-foot-wide deck carrying a 30-foot-wide roadway. It had false concrete arches with recessed panels in the spandrels. The railings were solid concrete parapets with paneled concrete posts and three recessed rectangular panels between each. The date "1930" was chiseled into the parapets at each end. The ends curved out before terminating in concrete posts, and chain-link fencing lined the inside of the railing.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Weekly List 20230714". National Park Service. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Charlene K. Roise (January 1998), NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REGISTRATION FORM: Trowbridge Road/Grand Trunk Western Railroad Bridge
  4. ^ David Veselenak (January 14, 2019). "Trow Bridge in Bloomfield Hills slated for demolition later this year". Hometownlife.com.
  5. ^ The bridge was slated for demolition in 2019; the actual date is unclear, but aerial photography indicated the bridge was removed by 2022.
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