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Fort Wayne Aqueduct, Allen County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: IN/14-02-01x
County: Allen County
Township: Wayne
Town/Village: Fort Wayne
Bridge Name: Fort Wayne Aqueduct
Crosses: St. Mary's River
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 2
Length: 204'
Roadway Width:
Built: c1834
Builder: Canal Trustees
When Lost: 1882
Cause: Razed
Latitude: N41 04.75
Longitude: W085 09.23
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: Wabash & Erie Canal near Main St. in Fort Wayne. 2-30N-12E.

Aqueduct Bridge, Allen County, IN Built 1834 Removed 1882
Richard Donovan / Trish Kane Collection

Fort Wayne Aqueduct (left) & West Main Street Bridge (right), Fort Wayne, Allen County, IN
Birds-Eye View of Fort Wayne, 1868, Chicago Lithography Company in the Library of Congress Panoramic Map Collection

Comments:
The Aqueduct Covered Bridge carried the Wabash & Erie Canal over the St. Mary's River one block from the West Street Covered Bridge. It was 17 feet 6 inches wide and had a water depth of 4 feet 6 inches. It was built in 1834 by the Canal Trustees. When the roof blew off in 1872 it was never replaced. It was lost in 1882 when the same location was needed for a railroad bridge. The old Aqueduct Covered Bridge must have been a substantial structure, as the Nickel Plate Railroad needed to use dynamite to remove it. Coordinates are approximate.

Sources:
Gould, George E.. Indiana's Covered Bridges Thru the Years, 1977
County History Preservation Society (no longer accessible). Covered Bridges of Indiana, 2002, http://www.countyhistory.com/coveredbridge/allen1.htm
Indiana Covered Bridge Society. Indiana Covered Bridge Society Newsletter, Volume 5, number 2, April 1968, page 4
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics (Indiana Edition), June 1950, pages 2-3

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