Evaluation and Repair of Wrought Iron and - Purdue e-Pubs ...

27Of the nineteen Indiana county engineers that completed the survey, 13 stated thatthere were historic wrought iron bridges in their county. Of the 13 counties with thesebridges, 2 had between 11 and 20 bridges, while 11 counties had between 1 and 10bridges. None of the counties had available any formal repair and maintenanceprocedures, but 3 allowed heat straightening of members and 6 allowed welding. Onecounty engineer referred to Restoring Historic Metal Truss Bridges, a source written byJames L. Cooper (2001), for repair procedures. All reported that inspection proceduresconsisted of typical visual inspections that were completed as part of the mandatory twoyear inspection cycle. Moreover, it was also reported that the majority of the load ratingfor these bridges was completed by hired consultants.