Cobban Bridge – spanning the history of the area

By Ginna Young

For thousands of years, bridges have acted as a way to connect one place to another, making access over rivers, lakes and canyons, possible for trade and socialization. One such crossing occurred at Cobban, over the Chippewa River in the early 1900s, which, until that time, was divided by the raging flowage, with only a ferry system in place.

Cobban was home to a general store, post office, railroad depot, blacksmith shop, cheese factory and a boarding house, in addition to the farms in the surrounding area. “As we moved into the modern era, we found that the rivers divided us,” said Frank Smoot, researcher at the Chippewa County Historical Society. “So, we needed a bridge.”

Constructed in 1908, by the Modern Steel Structure Company, of Waukesha, the two-span, Pennsylvania overhead truss which crossed the Chippewa River, just upstream from its junction with the Yellow River, at Lake Wissota, would come to be known as the Cobban Bridge. When the Wissota dam was built in 1916, the bridge was dismantled and acquired to reside at Cobban, on land donated by Simon Cummings Frazer Cobban.

During the winters of 1916 and 1917, the disassembled pieces were hauled to the new location by horse and sled, with movers receiving $1, per ton, for the 15-mile trip.

“It’s one of the very few bridges in the country, that actually had two halves,” said Smoot.

Footings were placed by the L. G. Arnold Company, and reconstruction was done by Cromby and Thailacker, of Milwaukee, in 1918-19, and the ferry was discontinued. Known as the Little Wagon Bridge, the structure at Cobban was a marvel of engineering of its time. As not only a functional, but beautiful structure, the Cobban Bridge has been immortalized in paintings and photographs, drawing onlookers to enjoy the panorama of each season.

“Even the most beautiful bridge might be failing,” said Smoot.

Since the 1980s, the Cobban Bridge has been on borrowed time, with multiple repairs and a lowered vehicle traffic weight of 10 tons to 6 tons in 2007, which extended the life of the structure.

“Unfortunately, painted steel only lasts so long in this climate and we watched it deteriorate,” said Brian Kelley, Chippewa County Highway commissioner.

Finally, Aug. 2, 2017, Kelley received an urgent call from the bridge inspector, saying Kelley needed to look at the structure in-person. When he arrived, Kelley was shown that the steel hanger bars were bowed and pushing outward, meaning it was no longer safe to carry weight.

Kelley made the decision and closed the bridge to traffic.

“And we didn’t know for sure, but at that time, Fred Anderson’s (Chippewa County project manager) vehicle was the last one to drive on the bridge and that was it for people driving across the old Cobban Bridge,” said Kelley.

Naturally, there was public outcry over the decision, as residents relied on it as a shortcut to destinations. But, it was apparent that the bridge had outlived its lifespan and would need to be replaced. “The need for a crossing at Cobban has been a much-debated topic,” said Kelley, adding some were for it and some were against.

Various other crossing sites were looked at, to the north and south over the river, but based on public feedback and cost feasibility, the county decided to construct a new bridge in the same location – but that meant the old bridge had to go. At first, it seemed a new bridge could be built alongside the old one and that the old one could remain as a walking bridge.

That was determined to also be unsafe and would require expensive renovation, and it was clear the old bridge would have to be removed. Efforts then went underway to save the structure and move it to a plot of land somewhere, as a historical monument.

However, the costs associated with that verged on the millions, something the ordinary citizen doesn’t have laying around in the change jar.

“It kind of fell out of our hands,” said Glen Sikorski, Cadott resident/county board supervisor. “We worked really hard to preserve something.”

With the Cobban crossing out of commission, fire trucks, ambulances, school buses and commerce transportation were forced to take alternate routes. Working as quickly as they were able to accommodate the needs of the rural area, the county scheduled the demolition of the old bridge for summer of 2022.

The moment was bittersweet for many when the first span came down, made a little easier from efforts of multiple agencies to preserve what they could of the historic structure. Perhaps none worked harder than Sheet Piling Services, who was contracted to remove the old bridge.

“They didn’t have to preserve all the old pieces of the bridge, if it was extra work – which it was – but they went above and beyond,” said Kelley, “and they saved some really cool pieces of the old bridge.”

Part of the structure was used at Lake Wissota State Park and other pieces will be located at different places around the area, as part of public display monuments.

After the old bridge was removed, work began on the new structure to span the river. The new bridge, finished in July of this year, is 504 feet long and 28 feet wide, has five spans, 4 piers and two lanes, and is made of 2,600 cubic yards of concrete, with steel reinforcement bars.

Jubilee reigned, as Cobban residents at last had their crossing back.

Highway employees are also happy, none more so than Richie Parkhurst, whose responsibility it is to clear snow from the bridge. As the weight limit was lowered on the old Cobban Bridge and highway equipment got larger, Parkhurst had to stop using his plow truck and instead, cleared the snow with a skid steer. Eventually, he was down to just a snowblower and a broom to get the job done.

The old bridge may be gone, but memories such as Parkhurst’s, live on, and the new bridge is ready to add its own name to the history of the area.

“Every bridge we work on is special, but Cobban is different,” said Kelley. “I cherish my memories of the old bridge.”