Caton Ford Bridge, Spanning Marmaton River at County Road 301, Nevada, Vernon County, MO

Significance: Built almost on hundred years ago by one of the Midwest's most prolific bridge erectors, the Caton Ford Bridge features a pin-connected Pratt truss superstructure. From the 1870s through the 1910s, thousands of pinned Pratt trusses were erected on Missouri's roadways. Although several hundred of these structures remain in use today, relatively few date from before the turn of the century. And fewer yet of the 19th century survivors remain structurally intact. The Caton Ford Bridge stands out among Missouri's pin-connected trusses as an early, well-documented and well-preserved example of what was once a mainstay structural type.
Survey number: HAER MO-76
Building/structure dates: 1894 Initial Construction