The only truss bridge on an Interstate highway is this deck truss located about a mile SW of the state line and the end of the Will Rogers Turnpike.
Although slightly narrower than most of the other bridges on the turnpike, from the deck this bridge looks like any other on the turnpike system.
Looking at the bridge from the side, as in the photo below, we discover that it is a deck truss. This bridge was built in 1957 and features a main span approx. 160 feet long, and steel stringer approaches flanking it on both ends. David, in the photo below, is not standing under the bridge, but half-way between my viewpoint and the bridge, thus he is not a true scale in this photograph.
Below, the bridge from the north abutment.
In the photo below we are actually looking thru one of the trusses. A pair of deck trusses each two lanes wide is used to make this 4-lane structure. The wind bracing between the trusses is heavily built of paired angles. You can also easily see the laced compression members and tied-channel tension members in this view.
Above, a view of the trusses from below. The upper chord has cover plates top and bottom, with cut-outs in the bottom plates instead of the conventional lacing on the bottom side. The lower chord is heavily reinforced with large batten plates. The middle four panels feature a continuous cover plate on the top side of the lower chord. The web members in this bridge are made of paired channels, laced or tied, with their flanges facing in.
Below, David gives a truer sense of scale.
Above and below, a few more side and under views of the bridge. The trusses are Warrens, with verticals, eight panels long. Overall, this bridge was found to be in excellent condition, and we suspect that the Jersey-barrier type guards are not original to this late 1950's structure.
