216:. The added cost of paying royalties made the cost of building such bridges with reinforced concrete very high. Marsh did not want to pay the royalties, so he built his own design for a reinforced concrete highway bridge, which later became known as the Marsh Rainbow Arch. His rainbow arch bridges were designed to be built without any supporting scaffolding. On August 12, 1912, Marsh received a patent for the design. The design used less labor, and it used a lesser amount of concrete. Steel that would be used for reinforcing bridges was cheap. Marsh's patented work allowed rural townships to have bridges that resembled the ones used over rivers in bigger cities. The patent was described as being "to construct an arch bridge of reinforced concrete in such a manner as to permit a limited amount of expansion and contraction both of the arches and of the floor".
111:
103:
227:, which was completed in 1930. He collaborated with other engineers to create "Minimum Specifications for Highway Bridges" for the Iowa Engineering Society, which was completed in 1914. Marsh's son, Frank E. Marsh, owned a construction company that often received the contracts for building bridges that were designed by Marsh. Marsh gave
191:
Throughout the first decade of the 1900s, Marsh built more bridges that were made out of reinforced concrete and steel. His company was named the Marsh Bridge
Company, and it provided bridges to cities and rural areas. The bridges included a reinforced concrete wagon bridge in Greene County and Melan
172:
and three bridges in Des Moines. His other bridges were in
Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Colorado. He became an independent bridge designer and contractor in 1896, but he still had his prior contacts with bridge companies to receive materials. Within a few years after the introduction of a
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Marsh was the representative of King Bridge
Company in 1883 and the Kansas City Bridge and Iron Company in 1886. In 1889, Marsh became the western general agent for the King Bridge Company. Marsh had already had many bridges completed in Iowa, including a three-mile railroad structure in
204:
said that the collapse was "the largest recorded failure of a reinforced-concrete bridge". The bridge collapse was likely caused by someone removing protective sheet piling without authorization. In
November 1909, Marsh's new company finished building an arch bridge in
131:, the first African-American to graduate as an engineer from Iowa State University, his first job. Marsh worked in the bridge building business for over 50 years, and several of his bridges are listed in the
188:, which finished construction in 1903. Marsh wrote about reinforced concrete girder bridges, which were published in works by the International Engineering Congress in St. Louis in 1904.
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Marsh continued to building rainbow arches and other types of reinforced concrete arch bridges. Possibly the largest rainbow arch bridge that he built was the
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123:(April 12, 1856 – June 26, 1936) was an American engineer and bridge designer. He patented a new design for
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The Melan bridges that were built by Marsh and others required royalties to be paid to the
American holders of the
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bridge in Cedar Rapids. In the beginning of 1909, the Marsh Bridge
Company was taken over by someone else, and the
663:
690:"National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Cedar Creek Bridge / Elgin Cedar Creek Bridge"
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151:, and he received a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in 1882. Within the next year, he traveled to
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177:, Marsh worked on applying reinforced concrete to urban bridges. In 1901, he was an engineer of a
721:"National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Conroe Bridge / Clark's Creek Bridge"
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864:"National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Neosho River Bridge"
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833:"National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Mine Creek Bridge"
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was started soon after. In May 1909, a Melan arch bridge in
147:. He moved to Iowa sometime around 1877, later enrolling at
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Several of Marsh's bridges remain and are listed in the
342:, 110th Street and V Avenue over Squaw Creek, Ridgeport
626:. State Historical Society of Iowa. 1998. p. 104.
469:Bladensburg Concrete Bowstring Bridge, SR 541 over
831:Larry Jochims and Michael Snell (July 22, 1982).
138:
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415:, South Broadway across the Big Arkansas River,
106:Patent image for Marsh's Reinforced Arch Bridge
862:Larry Jochims; Michael Snell (July 22, 1982).
719:Larry Jochims; Michael Snell (July 22, 1982).
688:Larrv Jochims; Michael Snell (July 22, 1982).
333:, 120th Street and V Avenue over Squaw Creek,
935:"NRHP nomination for Miller Ree Creek Bridge"
306:, CR P14 over East Fork of Des Moines River,
955:
850:four photos from 1982 and an original plan
575:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
173:new type of bridge construction involving
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315:, Highway N37 over North Raccoon River,
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592:"History being rebuilt in Valley City"
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297:, Court Avenue over Des Moines River,
956:Filipowicz, Diane H. (January 1982).
922:Bladensburg Concrete Bowstring Bridge
760:. Kansas Historical Society. May 2011
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247:(NRHP). Marsh died on June 26, 1936.
159:. He married and had three children.
143:Marsh was born on April 12, 1856, in
918:Historic American Engineering Record
528:– Last Marsh arch bridge on Route 66
324:, 270th Street over unnamed stream,
288:, 2130 320th Street over Big Creek,
245:National Register of Historic Places
133:National Register of Historic Places
881:accompanying three photos from 1982
565:. Boone County, Iowa. pp. 5–9.
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238:
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563:Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridges In Iowa
279:, 210th Street over Beaver Creek,
14:
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263:All Iowa works are NRHP-listed.
1013:James Barney Marsh II narrative
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1034:– Six-span rainbow arch bridge
962:NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form
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590:Morrell, Ray (April 9, 2004).
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270:, M Avenue over Beaver Creek,
139:Personal life and early career
1:
1073:People from Merton, Wisconsin
995:– Article containing bio info
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1078:Iowa State University alumni
989:– James B Marsh bio included
596:The Valley City Times Record
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958:"Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge"
899:. Kansas Historical Society
812:. Kansas Historical Society
786:. Kansas Historical Society
644:. Kansas Historical Society
519:
10:
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780:"Dewlen-Spohnhauer Bridge"
1058:American bridge engineers
1030:January 25, 2006, at the
638:"Blacksmith Creek Bridge"
623:Iowa Heritage Illustrated
561:C. Hippen, James (1997).
513:Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
509:Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge
443:Pottawatomie Creek Bridge
346:
313:Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge
194:Marsh Engineering Company
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84:Marsh Engineering Company
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1068:Engineers from Wisconsin
993:Valley City Times Record
920:(HAER) No. OH-52, "
403:Dewlen-Spohnhauer Bridge
250:
964:. National Park Service
937:. National Park Service
499:Miller Ree Creek Bridge
353:Blacksmith Creek Bridge
304:Des Moines River Bridge
258:
255:Notable works include:
893:"Soden's Grove Bridge"
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1007:U.S. patent 1,388,584
1000:U.S. patent 1,035,026
868:National Park Service
837:National Park Service
738:four photos from 1982
725:National Park Service
694:National Park Service
668:National Park Service
149:Iowa State University
145:North Lake, Wisconsin
113:
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66:Iowa State University
42:North Lake, Wisconsin
806:"Mack (John) Bridge"
754:"James Barney Marsh"
664:"Brush Creek Bridge"
503:Miller, South Dakota
477:, documented by HAER
453:Soden's Grove Bridge
340:Squaw Creek Bridge 2
322:Rockwell City Bridge
433:Neosho River Bridge
295:Court Avenue Bridge
277:Beaver Creek Bridge
268:Beaver Creek Bridge
175:reinforced concrete
526:Brush Creek Bridge
413:Mack (John) Bridge
373:Cedar Creek Bridge
363:Brush Creek Bridge
331:Squaw Creek Bridge
286:Big Creek Bridge 2
233:University of Iowa
121:James Barney Marsh
118:
115:Brush Creek Bridge
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22:James Barney Marsh
1063:Concrete pioneers
511:, Spring Street,
475:Bladensburg, Ohio
423:Mine Creek Bridge
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598:. Archived from
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493:Cotter, Arkansas
471:Wakatomika Creek
239:Death and legacy
229:Archie Alexander
202:Engineering News
198:Peoria, Illinois
153:Des Moines, Iowa
129:Archie Alexander
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75:Bridge designer
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57:(aged 80)
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481:Cotter Bridge
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459:, NRHP-listed
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429:, NRHP-listed
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419:, NRHP-listed
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409:, NRHP-listed
408:
404:
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399:, NRHP-listed
398:
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389:, NRHP-listed
388:
387:Junction City
384:
383:Conroe Bridge
381:
379:, NRHP-listed
378:
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369:, NRHP-listed
368:
364:
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359:, NRHP-listed
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326:Rockwell City
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127:. Marsh gave
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80:Organizations
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53:June 26, 1936
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968:September 6,
966:. Retrieved
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951:
941:September 6,
939:. Retrieved
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903:September 6,
901:. Retrieved
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873:September 6,
871:. Retrieved
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842:September 6,
840:. Retrieved
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816:September 6,
814:. Retrieved
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790:September 6,
788:. Retrieved
783:
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764:September 6,
762:. Retrieved
757:
730:September 6,
728:. Retrieved
714:
707:three photos
699:September 6,
697:. Retrieved
683:
673:September 6,
671:. Retrieved
667:
658:
648:September 6,
646:. Retrieved
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606:September 6,
604:. Retrieved
600:the original
595:
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407:Independence
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163:Later career
142:
125:arch bridges
120:
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95:arch bridges
55:(1936-06-26)
15:
1053:1936 deaths
1048:1856 births
489:White River
455:, K-57/99,
365:, north of
182:arch bridge
1042:Categories
897:Kansapedia
810:Kansapedia
784:Kansapedia
758:Kansapedia
642:Kansapedia
533:References
447:Osawatomie
435:, east of
427:Mound City
425:, east of
397:Osawatomie
385:, east of
375:, FAS 96,
355:, west of
299:Des Moines
170:Sioux City
72:Occupation
34:1856-04-12
571:cite book
487:over the
485:US 62 BUS
464:Elsewhere
335:Ridgeport
317:Lake City
308:Swea City
62:Education
1028:Archived
520:See also
437:Hartford
225:Arkansas
93:Rainbow
457:Emporia
417:Wichita
357:Topeka
347:Kansas
290:Madrid
214:patent
879:With
848:With
736:With
705:With
377:Elgin
281:Ogden
272:Perry
251:Works
179:Melan
970:2020
943:2020
905:2020
875:2020
844:2020
818:2020
792:2020
766:2020
732:2020
701:2020
675:2020
650:2020
608:2020
577:link
259:Iowa
50:Died
44:, US
28:Born
491:in
223:in
184:in
1044::
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895:.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
