Historic Places
North Loup Bridge
During the early 1910s, Valley County did not undertake any major new bridges on its road system. In 1912, however, the board of supervisors contracted for two substantial structures: one over the Middle Loup River at Arcadia and another over the North Loup River near the town of North Loup, in the southeast corner of the county. The clerk advertised for competitive proposals for the latter bridge in April and then re-advertised in July. 
According to plans and specifications developed by the county, the structure consisted of three 100-foot through trusses on steel cylinder piers, with a 40-foot pony truss approach span supported by steel pile bents on the south side. When bids were received in August, the county awarded the contract to the Empire Bridge Company of Omaha. Construction progressed slowly during the remainder of 1912. Empire completed the bridge the following June for a total cost of $13,089, using components rolled by Cambria and Lackawanna. The North Loup Bridge has carried traffic since with only minimal maintenance, although with the routing of nearby State Highway 22 it has functioned in a secondary capacity. At least one of its trusses has apparently shifted slightly on its foundations, and the bridge is currently scheduled for replacement.
The North Loup Bridge was the second structure built over the river by Valley County, preceded only by the span at Ord, the county seat. The latter structure was extensively rebuilt in 1916 and has since been demolished. Such multiple-span pinned through trusses - most of which were comprised of medium-span Pratts - were once common in Nebraska. Almost all of these early bridges have since been replaced or substantially altered, however. The North Loup Bridge is technologically significant as a well-preserved, multiple-span example of what was once a mainstay vehicular truss type in Nebraska.
Source: Excerpt from the database, National Register of Historic Places; located on the website, National Park Service (https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP), accessed 27 December 2025.
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