File:Hayden Bridge.jpg

This photograph was taken as part of a 1990 Historic American Engineering Record survey of the Hayden Bridge spanning the McKenzie River along the Southern Pacific Railroad near Springfield, Oregon. It shows the bridge in its original state before it was converted into a rail-trail, when guard rails and planked flooring were added for pedestrian use. A fence, added by Weyerhaeuser to deter bridge jumping, is also shown, indicating that it has been some time since the bridge was last used for railroad transportation in 1987.

The Hayden Bridge was determined to be significant by the survey because it incorporates two features that were milestones in the history of wrought iron bridge building: the Whipple-Murphy truss and the Phoenix column. The Bridge was fabricated by Clarke, Reeves & Company, Phoenixville Bridge Works of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania in 1882. It was originally erected across the Bear River at Corrine, Utah by the Central Pacific Railroad, on the line that was part of the first Transcontinental Railroad. The bridge was dismantled and reassembled across the McKenzie River near Springfield, Oregon in 1901, as part of a logging spur line owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The 224 feet long wrought-iron span includes hollow "Phoenix Columns," an innovative fabrication design of the wrought-iron period of American bridge building. This feature was a staple of the Phoenixville Bridge Works. The span is a Double-Intersection Pratt Truss, also called a Whipple-Murphy Truss. In 1847, Squire Whipple patented his design for a Pratt Truss made of iron, with diagonal web members crossing two panel points. The Hayden Bridge is made of wrought-iron, except for the connections and ornamentation, which are cast-iron. Ornamental medallions are placed at the crossing of the diagonal portal bracings. Railroad brake-wheel designs decorate the corner portal brackets. A cast-iron nameplate atop the portal gives the full name of the Phoenixville Works.