Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
City Manager’s Conference Room
Those present from HPC were Shannon Herren and Doug Krepps.
The meeting was conducted by the Georgia Department of Transportation. Attendees from GDOT were Sharman
Southall-Historian, Sandy Lawrence-History Unit Manager, Eric Duff-Cultural Resources Section Chief and Kim Nesbitt-
GDOT PM.
Representatives from the City of Griffin included Shannan Buckner, Kenny Smith, Frederick Gardiner, Brant Keller, Adam
Causey and Anthony Dukes.
Citizens in attendance were Diaood Amin and Ralph Jones.
Purpose of the meeting: Discussion of the reuse of 4 (2 pair) metal trusses that are currently in use on the 6 th Street
Bridge in Downtown Griffin.
Sharman Southall with GDOT states that she would like to explain why GDOT is even concerned about the reuse of the metal trusses that are on the current bridge. She explains that GDOT is tasked with caring about the environment because of section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. She says that her primary responsibility is to look out for the historic resources in an area. The 6th Street bridge is in the historic area of Griffin and the trusses themselves do have a historic significance. She says that GDOT has an interest in preserving the trusses if at all possible and we would like to see the trusses have some ability to be reused in the future. She says that when the project was first started back in 1999 the City of Griffin expressed no interest in retaining the trusses. She says that they had talked to the people at the City of Westpoint about possibly reusing them on a pedestrian trail there. A couple of years ago the City of
Westpoint notified them that they no longer needed the trusses that they were going to progress with their project without us. She says at that point GDOT came back to the City of Griffin and asked if we would like to retain the trusses.
She says that she would like to go over the different types of truss bridges and try to explain why the truss system on this bridge is significant.
The significance of the truss design—local and state
Warren truss Design:
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Is one of several truss configurations-Identical repetitive triangles similar
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Similar designs patented in Europe 1830’s & 1840’s
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Constructed of timber until RR drove development of iron
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1848 patented in England by James Warren and Willoughby Monzani
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A configuration of repetitive equilateral triangles that could support a roadbed on either its top or bottom cord
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Vertical or a second set of diagonals added for strength
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Fairly common type –but only one Warren Truss with verticals in Georgia
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The design gained popularity after 1860, particularly as RR bridges
The truss bridge in Griffin started its life as a RR bridge. The RR gave the trusses to the City of Griffin around the turn of the century to use as a crossing over the bridge. She states that another thing that is significant about the bridge in

Griffin is that it is pin connected. She says that she thinks that it’s fair to says that the bridge here is rare and that it is rare on a national level as well as a state level.
Pin-Connected:
While relatively common, most pin-connected truss bridges are Pratt. Most Warren trusses have riveted connections. In his 1872 book, Squire Whipple states that he built several triangular trusses in 1849 and 1850, but triangular configured trusses did not see widespread use in America until near the end of the 19 th century when bridge construction switched from pin-connected to riveted joints.
She explains that the following are things that we don’t know about the bridge:
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Original location of the bridge
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Who did the fabrication
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We don’t know if it was the work of a master
She explains that the reason that this is important information to have is that all of these things might make the bridge more significant than we think. It might make it more significant on a national level. She says that another reason this information is important is because in the end it might give Griffin more funding avenues.
She explains that bridges are a little bit different than a normal historic resource. It is recognized that a bridge is going to become insufficient. She says that GDOT has a little bit more latitude in replacing a bridge. She states that where this particular bridge is located we didn’t have a lot of alternatives. She says that she they can’t go to the East or West without taking out more history. She states that the trusses belong to the City of Griffin but GDOT would like to help come up with a good solution for preservation. She says that another reason for the meeting today is to determine if there is a plan to reuse the trusses and if so the possible locations that they might be used. It is stated that once the trusses are relocated it is no longer eligible to be on the National Historic Registry.
There is some discussion concerning the cost to move the trusses. The cost to move them will be based largely on where they are moved to. Kim Nesbitt says that when she came on to this project, she was told that there was this historical bridge and that no one had determined where it was going to go. The only plan that she know of was at one point the bridge was going to be moved to the airport. She said that her concern is that it would be moved to the airport and then turned to scrap. She says that GDOT would like to be able to work with the city to come up with sites and locations that we could actually take this bridge and preserve it. Then the city could have a plan in order to possibly set up grants to make sure it preserves its life. She says that they would like a list of ideas and possible sites to think about. Adam
Causey asks about the length of the trusses. They she says that they are approximately 100 feet in length. She also mentions that they are dual trusses so they can be laid side by side. Adam says that we have the funding to redo our streetscape and we have been thinking of ways to bridge Hwy 16 to the Taylor Street Campus which is our greenest area downtown as a way of linking this side of downtown with that side. There is discussion as to whether the trusses can be split and not used together and GDOT says that is fine. Kim mentions that they are primarily thinking of pedestrian bridge because the sufficiency rating is the primary reason that it is being replaced.
There is discussion concerning keeping the bridge for pedestrian traffic accessing the property on the other side of the
RR tracks but also bringing it to the height that would suit the railroads needs. Kim (GDOT) says that since the city owns the bridge they could negotiate this with the Railroad but GDOT would not be a partner in those negotiations if that is the route the city chooses. She says that currently that bridge is not pedestrian friendly. The new bridge will have pedestrian access. Doug Krepps mentions moving it to UGA in the location that they are tearing down the old bridge.

Kim says that they were thinking about that as well. Kenny Smith mentions Trails with Rails as an option. Kenny says that he is totally on board with saving the trusses but from his standpoint as City Manager it boils down to cost. Kim
(GDOT) says that the consultants can provide the city with a cost analysis for the locations that are researched. Kenny says that we also need to look into what grants are available for each location as well. Brant Keller stresses the need to store the trusses somewhere that is protected or it will become scrap. Kim says that from a financial perspective it would be ideal if the trusses could be moved to the location that they will be set up even if the location is in the prep stages and not the final stages so that GDOT could help. Once the trusses are moved from the current location and stored somewhere GDOT is taken out of the financial equation once they are ready to be moved to their permanent location. The new bridge replacement has a let date of May 2011 so ideally what will happen is that once the new bridge is started there will be a plan in place for where the trusses need to go. Diaood Amin states that he has a business on the north side of Broadway St. He says that people are crossing the railroad tracks illegally down near 2 nd Street. He says that he feels like relocating the trusses for pedestrian crossing near Third Street would be a good idea especially from a safety perspective. Kenny Smith mentions maybe looking at a crossing at two different locations to see which would work best. Sharman (GDOT) says that she has down 2 nd , 8th , and 10 th Streets as the two options.
Summary of options:
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The additional access for pedestrians to the Northside community at either 2 nd , 8 th or 10 th Street
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UGA bridge to shopping over the abandoned rail line
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The Taylor Street pedestrian that works in with the Streetscape
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Rails to Trails (Spalding County Master Plan)
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Analysis of what will happen if the trusses are stored ( physical changes )
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Golf Course
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Kelsey School/ Fairmont Recreation
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Connect Coldwater Creek/Roses/Piggly Wiggly
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Connect Ashton Place/ Hillandale
Shannon Herren says that from Historic Preservation standpoint she would love to see the trusses reused in the downtown area.
Kenny Smith says that we want to make sure that the new bridge isn’t some ultra modern looking structure. Kim says that she has been involved in some meetings with the design team and the first idea that they were thinking of using was not as aesthetically pleasing as we would like. She says that she saw a draft yesterday and it is much better. She sketches what the draft looked like for everyone to see. Brant Keller says that he see potential issues with the design. He says that when this was first looked at in 1999 the discussion was that the new bridge needed to look as close to the old bridge as possible. There is further discussion concerning the look of the bridge. It is strongly stated that the new bridge needs to look as much like the old bridge as possible. It is determined that the bridge designer needs to come down to talk to the city so that we can give him our input as to what we would like it to look like. There needs to be a meeting so that the public can give their input as well. The faux of the bridge is still in draft form so input is still an option.
Sharman says that she would like to make sure that she has someone that she can communicate with on these options to make sure that we have them clear. Kenny says that Anthony Dukes will be the contact person for the maps and Rails to Trails option. Adam Causey, DDA Director, will be the contact for the Taylor Street Option, Frederick Gardiner,
Director of Planning & Development will be the contact for the new railroad track crossing options both east and west,
Brant Keller, Director of Public Works will be the contact person for the Golf Course, Kelsey/Fairmont, Piggly Wiggly/

Coldwater Creek/Ashton Place Options and Doug Krepps will be the contact person for the UGA bridge to shopping over the abandoned rail line.
Shannan Buckner says that she would like to re-emphasize the importance of trying to come up with a plan/location so that GDOT can move the trusses and the City won’t have to bear the expense of moving them a second time.
Adjourn
Respectfully Submitted:
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Shannan Buckner, Principle Planner
Attest:
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Jim Ogletree, Chairman