Description of Historic Place

The Concrete Box Bridge near the hamlet of Green Ridge, also known as Provincial Highways Bridge Site No. 7558, is a single-span concrete road crossing built in 1920 over the north branch of the Jordan River. The municipal designation applies to the bridge structure.

Heritage Value

The modest Concrete Box Bridge near Green Ridge is a good illustration of a box-girder bridge, one of the most common and basic types of reinforced concrete bridges used to span short distances. The fixed single-lane crossing, which was cast in place, is one of two similar bridges (both municipally designated, the other near Woodmore) designed and built by local contractor Fred Esterby to extend grid roads over the north branch of the Jordan River, in turn, making travel more direct and convenient in the Rural Municipality of Franklin. The fine structure, with its elegant guardrail balustrades, remains largely intact and in continuous use.

Source: Rural Municipality of Franklin By-law No. 06-99, February 8, 2000

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the site character of the Green Ridge-area Concrete Box Bridge include:
- the structure's north-south placement extending Road 22 East over the Jordan River in southeastern Manitoba
- clear visibility of the bridge within the surrounding landscape

Key elements that define the structure as a modest concrete box-girder road bridge include:
- the low, narrow form comprised of a single 20-metre span, approximately three metres in width (slightly more than one lane), with a short, straight-arched clearance over the waterway and low guardrails above grade
- the superstructure's main components and materials, including the rectangular-shaped, reinforced concrete box girders, the continuous concrete deck and the concrete guardrails containing finely shaped balusters set between sturdy bases, heavy railings and blocky posts
- the substructure, including abutments constructed of concrete reinforced with rebar
- other features and details, including the date '1920' carved in the northwest guardrail post and the contractor's initials 'FE' in the southwest post, etc.