Burwell Bridge

The Burwell Bridge was a historic bridge on the northern edge of Burwell in Garfield County, Nebraska which was built in 1940–41. It was a steel girder bridge that brings Nebraska Highway 11 over the North Loup River. It is also known as the North Loup River Bridge and denoted as NEHBS Number GFOO-13. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, and was delisted in 2019.[1]

Burwell Bridge
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of Nebraska Show map of the United States
Location	NE 11 over the N. Loup R., Burwell, Nebraska
Coordinates	41.767778°N 99.125278°W / 41.767778; -99.125278
Area	less than one acre
Built	1940-41
Built by	W.A. Biba Engineering Company
Architect	Nebraska Bureau of Roads & Bridges
Architectural style	Steel stringer bridge
MPS	Highway Bridges in Nebraska MPS
NRHP reference No.	92000715[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 29, 1992
Removed from NRHP	March 25, 2019

It was designed by the Nebraska Bureau of Roads & Bridges to replace the previous bridge which had been washed out by floodwaters on June 25, 1939. The bridge is at a 30 degree skew over the river. It has a roadway 24 feet (7.3 m) wide. It has three spans with total span length of 110 feet (34 m) and total bridge length of 290 feet (88 m). The center span is 73 feet (22 m). It has concrete abutments, wingwalls and spill-through piers. It has a concrete deck over steel stringers. It was built by contractor W.A. Biba Engineering Company of Geneva, Nebraska at cost of $44,763.28, using steel from Omaha Steel Works.[2]

According to its NRHP registration, the bridge was deemed notable as one of "the longest cantilevered beam structures identified in the statewide bridge inventory. It is technologically significant for its representation of long-span beam bridge experimentation conducted by the state engineer's office in the 1930s."[2]^:3

Replacement bridge in 2010

By 2010, however, the bridge appeared to have been replaced by a new reinforced concrete and girder bridge.[note 1] Uglybridges.com, a website which uses National Bridge Inventory data, reports the bridge was reconstructed in 2007 and now has a 44.0 feet (13.4 m) wide roadway, with total deck width 46.9 feet (14.3 m). It has a concrete cast-in-place deck.[3]