Bryan Bridge
US Hwy 20/83 over the Niobrara River
3.3 Miles Southeast of Valentine
Cherry County, Nebraska
Total Length: 290 ft.
Roadway Width: 23.8 ft.
3-Span, Rigid-Connected Pratt Deck Truss
BUILT: 1931-32 by the Yant Construction Company
S020 19981
When engineers for the Nebraska Bureau of Roads and Bridge began considering the design of a new bridge to carry U.S. Highways 20/83 over the Niobrara River in 1931, they first considered a 160-foot through truss with deck girder approaches or a 300-foot continuous truss. But they eventually scrapped these designs in favor of a 290-foot arched cantilever deck truss. "Since it was considered that any structure of ordinary appearance would mar the natural beauty of the banks and immediate surroundings the arched cantilever spans were adopted in spite of the slightly greater cost," highway department engineer Josef Sorkin explained in 1934. Named in honor of Nebraska Governor Charles W. Bryan, the proposed structure consisted of a 145-foot arched span over the river, flanked by symmetrical anchor spans and supported by dumbbell-shaped concrete pedestals.
A contract to build the bridge was awarded late in 1931 to the Yant Construction Company of Omaha. Using a steel superstructure fabricated by the Paxton and Vierling Iron Works in Omaha, the contractor completed the bridge the next year. Since its dedication in September 1932, the Bryan Bridge has carried traffic in this lightly trafficked highway, without substantial modification.
"Aesthetic treatment of Nebraska bridges is seldom economically justifiable due to the alluvial character of the streams - typically wide and shallow," Josef Sorkin wrote in 1934. "The comparative cost of substructures is so small that only in very rare instances spans beyond 60 feet in length are acceptable from the point of view of cost. For such limited span lengths the steel deck girder type is most useful. While everything is being done to make such bridges as sightly as possible, spectacular achievements of merit are obviously limited. "With its steep banks and beautiful streambed, the Niobrara River lent itself well to a dramatic structural statement, and the Nebraska highway department took full advantage of this rare opportunity to flex its engineering muscles. Perhaps the most handsome highway bridge in the state, the Bryan Bridge is a singular exercise in highway bridge aesthetics in the state.