White Water Canal Aqueduct Bridge

Also known as the Duck Creek Aqueduct or Metamora Aqueduct, this Burr Arch truss structure is not a road bridge at all but a working canal aqueduct: it carries the historic Whitewater Canal, in a timber-lined water trough, over Duck Creek at the eastern edge of the village of Metamora. An earlier aqueduct on the site, part of the canal's original 1839-43 construction, washed out in a flood; the present structure was rebuilt in 1846 and has since been strengthened (1868), repaired (1901), and restored to its historic appearance (1946-49), with the trough itself rebuilt again in 2005. Sources give its length as roughly 81 to 90 feet and about 25 feet wide. Because it uses covered-bridge truss framing and siding, it closely resembles a traditional covered bridge, but water — not vehicles — passes through it, while an adjacent towpath historically carried mules towing canal boats. A 2010s National Park Service survey identified only about ten wooden covered aqueducts ever built in the US; the Duck Creek Aqueduct is the sole survivor and remains in active use, carrying water and seasonal canal-boat tours at the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site. It is a National Historic Landmark (designated 2014) and a contributing structure to the Whitewater Canal and Metamora Historic Districts.