Prophetstown State Park

Battleground, Indiana

 

The development of the new Prophetstown State Park, situated at the confluence of the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers near Battleground, Indiana, included several environmental, historical, cultural, and infrastructure challenges for the design team. The most critical infrastructure challenge was to maintain an existing State Highway running through the 3000 acre ‘prairie style’ park without imposing a stark and modern highway bridge upon the native landscape. The solution was to design an overpass bridge that would span the main park drive, separate the highway from the park, make the highway as invisible as possible from the park, and make the bridge compatible with the theme, image and function of the new park. The project was funded and bid-let by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) as the client. INDOT process and standards were required.

The importance of the park image allowed the IDNR to create a partnership of landscape architects for the design and development of the park and its facilities. The park and bridge designer, Kevin K. Parsons & Associates, Inc. (KPA), in association with the IDNR staff landscape architects, responded to this challenge with an innovative and unique bridge design never before attempted within the public domain of Indiana.

 

This one-of-a-kind structure was conceived by KPA to be constructed of ‘glacial erratic boulders’ indigenous throughout the glaciated site. The boulder veneer is random sized with the image of primitive construction, that appears to grow out of the ground. The bridge structure was designed with two concrete arch spans, one wide span arch for the park drive and a smaller parallel arch for the park bike-pedestrian trail. The bridge side slopes, and the highway approach slopes were scattered with various sized boulders as if left behind by the glacial recession in random arrangement.

The slopes were planted in native grasses, forbes and wildflowers, all indigenous to the area in the 19th Century. The side slopes were also planted with indigenous native tree species simulating the native ‘savannah’ that once prevailed throughout portions of the prairies of Indiana