{"nrhp_refnum":"72001036","name":"Interurban Bridge","other_names":["Ohio Electric Railroad Bridge and Roche de Boeuf"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"1 mi. S of Waterville over Maumee River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waterville","county":"Lucas County","state":"OH","lat":41.48639844400003,"lon":-83.72840241499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-06-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1,220-foot reinforced concrete railroad bridge across the Maumee River about one mile south of Waterville, joining Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio. It was completed in 1908 by the National Bridge Company of Indianapolis for an interurban electric line.","why_significant":"The bridge was considered the largest reinforced concrete bridge in the world when completed in 1908 and is an early, very large example of that construction method. It carried an interurban trolley line linking Waterville and Toledo until abandonment in 1937. It also spans Roche de Boeuf, a limestone outcropping tied to Ottawa councils with French traders and to General Anthony Wayne's 1794 river crossing before the Battle of Fallen Timbers.","narrative":"Spanning the Maumee River about a mile south of Waterville, this 1,220-foot reinforced concrete bridge joins Lucas and Wood Counties. Completed in 1908 by the National Bridge Company of Indianapolis under chief engineer J. M. Walker, it has 12 arched spans of \"Roman Aqueduct\" design, each 85 to 100 feet long, standing 43 feet above low water. Construction cost $130,000 and used 16,000 yards of concrete and 240 tons of steel. At completion it was regarded as the largest reinforced concrete bridge in the world. Built for the Ohio Electric Company and later run by the Lima and Toledo Traction Company, it carried an interurban trolley line that made the trip to Toledo in about twenty minutes. Highways and automobiles ended that service, and the bridge was abandoned in 1937. The structure also crosses Roche de Boeuf, a limestone outcropping where Ottawa people met French traders and where General Anthony Wayne crossed the river in August 1794, before the Battle of Fallen Timbers.","period_of_significance":"1908 (20th Century)","architect_builder":"National Bridge Company of Indianapolis, Indiana (builder); J. M. Walker, chief engineer","architectural_style":"\"Roman Aqueduct\" design","criteria":[],"status_note":"Abandoned in 1937; condition listed as deteriorated, and the owner is the State of Ohio Department of Highways. A letter proposes using it as a landscaped pedestrian walkway in a local park project.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.394684-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/72001036.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001036/69495d6674-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001036/69495d6674-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jmslagle at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farnsworth_Metropark.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jmslagle at en.wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farnsworth_Metropark.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989893","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interurban_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6057230"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lucas-county/interurban-bridge-72001036/"}