It was a real surprise finding this bridge on a road that basically goes nowhere. Two 120' state-standard designs combine along with a steel stringer approach at each end to create this high crossing above Salt Creek. The wide curbs and 21' wide roadway lead me to estimate this bridge as having been built around 1950.
This bridge uses steel guards on the approaches, indicating that it was probably built as a county road bridge. But, some old maps do show OK 18 going directly from Fairfax to Burbank. The present routing of OK 18 has it junctioning US 60 east of Burbank. This earlier possible routing would place OK 18 across this bridge. It is very unlikely, however, that OK 18 ever actually used this alignment, but a pre-OK 18 Burbank to Fairfax road did.
In the picture below, you can see the sway bracing. The sway bracing has been beefed up in this bridge because of the windy conditions found at this location. On the day I visited this bridge it was only moderately windy, yet the wind really came barreling thru.
