This arched cantilever truss bridge, connected in the center with a single pin, is the only one of its kind in the United States. It was built in 1932 by the Department of Public Works and named by the local citizenry in honor of Governor Charles Wayland Bryan. The bridge is 289 feet long, has a 24-foot roadway, and cost $55,564. It was designed by Josef Sorkin, who immigrated from Russia in 1923 and graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Engineering in 1929.
This particular design was chosen because it was aesthetically compatible with the surrounding environment of the Niobrara River Valley. The Bryan Bridge was selected as the "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge of 1932 in Class C" by the American Institute of Steel Construction, and was the first bridge between Wisconsin and the Pacific Coast to receive such an award.
In 1988 the bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1995 it was designated as a State Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the Nebraska Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
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