The Ione Bridge, crossing the Pend Oreille River, previously known as the Clark Fork River, just south of Ione, Washington, was originally designed in 1932 by Harold A. Sewell and then redesigned in the 1960s by Harold A. Sewell and James A. Sewell.
“This bridge is among the oldest known examples of a cantilever deck truss bridge in Washington State. It is also located in a county and region that has relatively few historic truss bridges. Fortunately, the bridge has been rehabilitated and preserved and remains in excellent condition today. The original railings do not remain on the bridge. The bridge does have one major alteration: the approach spans, which were originally timber, have been replaced with unusual, modern welded two-panel trusses supported on the non-original substructure. In contrast, the historically significant cantilever truss main spans remain largely unaltered and have good historic integrity. The remaining approach spans are wooden stringer spans.
“The cantilever truss is configured with a four-panel suspended span in the center. Pins at the associated top and bottom chord connection points to the cantilever arms denote where the ends of the suspended span are located. The bridge cost $75,000 to construct.” -Historic Bridges.com.
