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Aqueduct or Duck Creek, Franklin 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/14-24-11
County: Franklin County
Township: Metamora
Town/Village: Metamora
Bridge Name: Aqueduct or Duck Creek
Crosses: Duck Creek
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 60'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1847
Builder: Canal Trustees
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N39 26.770
Longitude: W085 07.798
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 0.2 miles east of jct IN229 on US52 and 1.0 miles right on Pennington Rd. to the bridge on the left side of the road.

Aqueduct or Duck Creek Bridge, Metamora, Franklin County, IN Built 1847
© Lisa Plamondon

Aqueduct or Duck Creek Bridge, Metamora, Franklin County, IN Built 1847
Dale J. Travis Photo

Aqueduct or Duck Creek Bridge, Metamora, Franklin County, IN Built 1847
Richard Donovan / Trish Kane Collection

Aqueduct or Duck Creek Bridge, Metamora, Franklin County, IN Built 1847
Todd Clark Collection

Aqueduct or Duck Creek Bridge, Metamora, Franklin County, IN Built 1847
Todd Clark Photo

Aqueduct or Duck Creek Bridge, Metamora, Franklin County, IN Built 1847
Bill & Jenn Caswell Photo, September 25, 2015

Comments:
8-panel truss. Rebuilt 1949. Per Jim Barker, this may be a Wernwag Truss. The Aqueduct Covered Bridge or Duck Creek Aqueduct, is the only known covered wooden aqueduct still operating in the United States and was once featured in Ripley's "Believe it or Not." The aqueduct carries the Whitewater Canal over Duck Creek, which is 16 feet below. The first Aqueduct on this site was built in 1843 and destroyed by floodwater in 1847. Around 1901, the bottom of the structure was repaired and raised about 18” to its present height above the water. On September 30, 2014, the bridge was named a National Historic Landmark.

Sources:
Historic American Buildings Survey, Survey number HABS IN-24-20, March 1934
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/franklin1.htm
Travis, Dale. 'Indiana Covered Bridges List', updated to 11 Feb 2005, http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbin.htm (8 Mar 2005)
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 17

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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