Glazes Ford-Smith Bridge, Chucky, TN



The Glaze's Ford Bridge was Built in 1901 at Glaze's Ford of the Nolichucky River by low bidder Southern Bridge Company of Birmingham, Alabama at a cost of $7,850.

The bridge is 226 feet long resting on three masonry piers (steel column abutments) and is still with us today, but closed to traffic. Two of the spans are full size Pratt-style steel trusses that are pin-connected, and the smaller one is a riveted Pratt-style "pony" truss.

Two things make this bridge special. Instead of building a curve into the north shore truss, the builders simply attached a pony truss to achieve a needed 75-degree curve at the northern road approach.

The second interesting fact of this bridge is that it was abandoned by Washington County when a new modern bridge upriver replaced it in 1983. Noting its historical significance but not having enough money to maintain it, the county offered the bridge to the homeowner on the hill at the north end of the structure who took possession of it to preserve it.

Imagine this landowner property tax list: one large home, a smaller building, three barns, a grain silo, one historic three-span steel truss bridge....