The Phantom Bridge of Orient, Ohio

Built in 1885 by the Cleveland Bridge and Iron Company of Cleveland, Ohio, the Orient Bridge is 225 feet long and spans Big Darby Creek near the town of Orient, Ohio.

The bridge is a very ornate Whipple Through Truss Bridge with decorative finials on top of the portal at the end posts in addition to the builders plaque at each ends of the bridge.

The Whipple Bridge derives its name from Mr. Squire Whipple, a bridge engineer who in 1847 designed this style of bridge where the diagonals extend over two panels thus giving the bridge greater span length.

This is a fairly rare bridge nationally although it’s estimated that Ohio has at least 14 of these across the state.