This bridge is in a beutifull location.
This bridge is in good condition.
More views (in the eastbound directio)
Hello. Both of my parents were born and raised in Old Appleton. My great-uncle owned the brewery before McGovern bought it. My Grandpa owned the saloon. We use to go fishing in the creek. We'd walk across the bridge, seemed everytime there was a car that had to cross. The memories that I and my 2 brothers have, are some of the most wonderful and happiest memories of our lives. God Bless all who care about Old Appleton.
That old bridge was always scary to cross. Way too narrow. Even as a teenager, I was having a hard time keeping the car within the lane without driving off the side or hitting someone head on. Know a few people killed crossing the bridge. But, it was historical. Another piece of Cape Girardeau history sorry to see go. They could have kept it as a one-way bridge.
this bridge has since been torn down. a new one has replaced it. it was torn down spring/summer of '07.
The Wittpenn Bridge was built beginning in 1927 and opened November 5, 1930. It has been the site of several fatal accidents and has been the location of some hauntings (perhaps linked to the crashes). This deficent and obsolete span will be replaced by 2012 with a modern lift bridge with sholders.
http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/99/dec99/120799n2.htm
The sidebar of the above link and a 1987 Oregonian article mention that this bridge and another Sandy River bridge use
spans from the 1894 version of the Burnside Bridge.
Nice website!!
I have been looking for any information on a double decked bridge that crossed the Mississippi and or the Ohio river . I know that you could see two other states while standing in IL . I was 10 and it was 1949 , we were in a park with tall trees and some Indian Mounds , a plantation home with a front lawn that went to the river and a slave cabin , you could look adross the river and could see the bridge .
Does any one know of a place like this ? Thank you for any help .
e-maol me at : threedfarms@netins.net
I believe this bridge is called the Tindall Bridge. Somewhere near this bridge is the Gillmore Bridge.It is almost if not a twin structure to this one but unfortunately it is derelict. I would hate to let it fall beyond repair. Sorry if I mixed up the bridge names.
US 117 was rerouted to the east side of Wilmington, North Carolina. So only NC 133 goes over this bridge.
This picture was taken June 17, 2007 from the CSX Bridge.
This bridge has been removed and replaced in 2002. The City of Akron maintained a website with information about this project. http://ci.akron.oh.us/engineering/PortagePath/
This bridge has been and moved a few hundred feet off its foundations over a tributary ditch just off the road. I dont know if the bridge is used by farm tractors or if its just sitting there for now.
Regarding climbing the bridge. Operating Railroad bridges have always been private property, not built with public funds, and have always had "No Trespassing" signs. If you climb onto the bridge you are trespassing. Probably it is just the heightened security post 9/11 that results in you being arrested, though.
However you should be aware that you ARE trespassing on private railroad land and property.
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Hi, great database. Here one picture.
NOW TELL PEOPLE HOW DANGERAS THIS BRIDGE IS
FEDERAL (RATES IT AS 3) This means it real poor in safty
UP DATE YOUR SIGHT
& tell people how dageras these bridges are
This Bridge has been replaced & OPEN TO TRAFFIC
I travelled this bridge the fall of 2004. I was thinking it had some of the metal decking that you can see thru.
I was carrying a football team. Several were hollering that it was going to fall down with us. We made it across just fine. I was thankfull that we did not meet another large vehicle.
There should be no pedestrians or auto traffic, this is a train bridge!
There seems to be 2 spellings of McColly/McCally. I have no history of the bridge but did photograph it for a painting I was doing. While in the area, I stopped at the cemetary just west of the bridge and photographed the tombstone of Nicholas McCally. The plaque in front of the original tombstone had a different spelling. Maybe your family history could be under the original 1850 spelling.
Visited this bridge on 18 Aug, 2007 and it has a new roof. The pictures show the bridge with the new roof. Also my friends Bob, Mark, and John were with me. It was the first time John has ever seen a covered bridge.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.
This is a cool site.
This bridge is thought to be made up of spans from the "original" Frisco railroad bridge at Van Buren across the Arkansas river. The Frisco bridge was updated in 1913 with much heavier truss sections, and the old truss members were available for purchase. I have attached a post-card view of the bridge in its original location.
Visited this bridge on 8/18/07 looks like a new bridge, completely repainted. New riprap along abuttments and concrete looks to be new or powerwashed.
It sucks and needs to be fixed
What do you mean by made obsolete by new bridge in 1957?
Do you mean made obsolete when you made the new 67 bridge?
The NPS has been conducting research on some of Arkansas' bridges this summer and it turns out that this bridge was built by a private individual in 1892 and was called the Marble Arch Bridge. I will send more information as we get it.
Images taken 8-19-07. A true bridge to nowhere. The 86 mile Nome-Taylor gravel highway ends at this one-lane bridge spanning the Kougarok River. A trail proceeds from their to the mining area at Taylor, Alaska. The road was never finished. Weight Limit is 10 tons. Bridge was reassembled at it's present site. Origin of bridge unknown.
Bridge is only rated at 2 tons. Snyder Park is on NW side of Springfield. Photos taken at dusk, 08/19/07.
Photos taken 8/19/07.
Photos taken 8/19/07
Photo taken 8/11/07
I use to live in Morrilton from 1979-1984. At that time, we were still allowed to walk across the old bridge. They use to keep the other side of the bridge mowed and there use to be plenty of picnic tables. I heard sometime in 1986, they blocked the entrance to the bridge and stopped mowing the other side.
Photo 08/11/07.
Photos 8/11/07
Bridge is in park-like setting. Photo taken 8/11/07.
Unfortunately, this bridge may have to go because of the Honda plant. The plant is on Old US 421 and traffic will be heavy on this road.
Some notes...
The bridge is monitored 24/7 by a strain gauge system installed a few years ago. Weight limits were maintained way above the minimum (3 ton) due to a study from the strain gauges, after ODOT was considering reducing the limits to 3 ton.
The Ironton-Russell Bridge when constructed (I've been told that it was originally built by Armco Steel) was the ONLY Ohio River crossing between Wheeling, WV (Wheeling Suspension Bridge) and Cincinnati, OH (Roebling Bridge).
It is by far the oldest surviving steel cantilever Ohio crossing, and is extremely historic in it's own right.
Originally the bridge had a wood deck. It was eventually replaced by a metal mesh deck, with some portions concreted.
It used to be a toll bridge, until the late 1980's.
It survived the devastating 1937 flood and the 1997 flood...
It has a very unique feature in that the approaches on the KY and OH sides are angled 90 degrees from the bridge alignment... This has caused MANY wrecks especially in winter... I was told that this was deliberately chosen at the time to limit speed on the bridge... No bridge of it's size in the world has this feature.
Some notes...
The bridge is monitored 24/7 by a strain gauge system installed a few years ago. Weight limits were maintained way above the minimum (3 ton) due to a study from the strain gauges, after ODOT was considering reducing the limits to 3 ton.
The Ironton-Russell Bridge when constructed (I've been told that it was originally built by Armco Steel) was the ONLY Ohio River crossing between Wheeling, WV (Wheeling Suspension Bridge) and Cincinnati, OH (Roebling Bridge).
It is by far the oldest surviving steel cantilever Ohio crossing, and is extremely historic in it's own right.
Originally the bridge had a wood deck. It was eventually replaced by a metal mesh deck, with some portions concreted.
It used to be a toll bridge, until the late 1980's.
It survived the devastating 1937 flood and the 1997 flood...
It has a very unique feature in that the approaches on the KY and OH sides are angled 90 degrees from the bridge alignment... This has caused MANY wrecks especially in winter... I was told that this was deliberately chosen at the time to limit speed on the bridge... No bridge of it's size in the world has this feature.
Since the I35W disaster, I've been avoiding the old bridge... I've crossed it tens of thousands of times.
Our local paper published the inspection ratings of all our Ohio River bridges, the Ironton-Russell Bridge is Structurally Deficient with a rating of 7.
It's in really poor condition with holes in the steel grate deck, some of which are patched over with steel plates. Replacement has been put off until 2011 at the earliest because the proposed cable stayed bridge came in over budget.
ODOT is going to do another major rehab of the bridge later this year once the 12th Street bridge in Ashland re-opens (it's being painted).
A couple of pictures of the bridge taken from the Washington & Old Dominion Trail
Still in use - July, 2007.
Still open to traffic in July of 2007.
I still have nightmares about this bridge falling in as I'm crossing it!
As of August 15, this bridge is closed to all traffic, whether or not it is going to be rehabilitated, replaced, or simply removed remains to be seen. The highway dept. has place large piles of sand and gravel on each end of the bridge to block traffic, and as now, no construction seems to be in progress.
This bridge no longer exists. It was taken out when US 31 was widened to four lanes. I thought Columbus was like about architecture and history or something. A new bridge could have been built parallel to this one. Columbus built the new cable stayed bridge over the East Fk. White river, so they could have built a new through truss parallel to this one. I'm sorry if I sounded selfish in the past sentence.
This bridge no longer exists. It was near a stone quarry, was weak and was taken out in 2004.
Hard to believe this bridge is celebrating its centennial this year! Most locals would not know that the Lewis and Clark is that old. The Minnesota collapse is bringing about a new inspection of this span.
The 1950's bridge was structurally damaged by a big tree floating down the river during a flash flood. It took a while to tear down the old bridge and put up a new one and daredevils would often continue to cross the span. In a few years they will likely have to reroute the road a little bit because part of the west bank is only a couple yards from the blacktop.
I traveled to California to visit this bridge this past weekend, but I guess I was too late. The bridge has been removed and replaced with a concrete structure.
The construction of the new roadway and bridge to rplace the present bridge can be seen in this photo.
This bridge has been demolished and replaced with the bridge shown in the photo.
This photo says it all.
This bridge was still in use in July of 2007 when this photo was taken.
This bridge was still in use in July of 2007 when this photo was taken.
This bridge was still in use in July of 2007 when this photo was taken.
This bridge was still in use in July of 2007 when this photo was taken.
This bridge was still in use in July, 2007, when this photo was taken.
This bridge was still in use in July, 2007, when this photo was taken.
I've been acrooss this bridge before. I just think they should connect it to an Interstate.
i've been acrooss this brige before. I wish they could connect it to the highway
Wow, this really brings back memories of my teen years. Remember when we used to think that was "the spot". Everyone used to meet there and hang out. It's also the place we would go to sneak a cigarette! What fun memories!
State and Federal Governments constantly argue over where the funding of such projects should originate. But one can rest assured that if the bridge were to be suddenly rendered unusable - or collapse, God forbid, funding would somehow be found to replace it immediately. Why doesn't the State of Kentucky simply float a 20-30 year bond for their portion of the cost to replace the bridge, and the recover the cost by assessing tolls from those who use it, much like they did when the bridge was first erected?
This brings back so many memories. I grew up hanging out there every summer until we finally moved up there in 1976 and then my friends and I would hang out at "the bridge" everyday. We caught the schoolbus there each morning and got off the bus each afternoon. We lived only 2 houses away from it. My brother fished there daily and we even swam under it.In bad weather we hung out under "the bridge" I love that place.It is a beautiful bridge and in the fall with all the colors on the trees it is a beautiful site.
Originally there was a ford across the creek here, and the nearest resident was called Haggard, hence the name Haggards Ford. As stated in the main info panel above, the bridge was a WPA project, completed in 1941. It was closed in about 1962 because of feared instability in one of the piers due to water erosion of the land around the pier. At that time another low water crossing was built (another "ford") just barely visible in the photos above, and this was the only way for vechicles to pass here until the new bridge was built about 4 years ago, at which time the roads leading to the ford were removed. The swinging bridge, since restoration in 1977 is blocked to vehicle traffic, and is a pedestrian bridge only. It is very narrow for a vehicle bridge. When you walk across it there is a gentle bobbing up and down of the deck as it deflects with the weight of your steps. The current land-owner of the land adjacent to the bridge keeps one approach mowed and trimmed, and currently the "setting" for the bridge is more attractive than the vintage photos shown above.
Originally there was a ford across the creek here, and the nearest resident was called Haggard, hence the name Haggards Ford. As stated in the main info panel above, the bridge was a WPA project, completed in 1941. It was closed in about 1962 because of feared instability in one of the piers due to water erosion of the land around the pier. At that time another low water crossing was built (another "ford") just barely visible in the photos above, and this was the only way for vechicles to pass here until the new bridge was built about 4 years ago, at which time the roads leading to the ford were removed. The swinging bridge, since restoration in 1977 is blocked to vehicle traffic, and is a pedestrian bridge only. It is very narrow for a vehicle bridge. When you walk across it there is a gentle bobbing up and down of the deck as it deflects with the weight of your steps. The current land-owner of the land adjacent to the bridge keeps one approach mowed and trimmed, and currently the "setting" for the bridge is more attractive than the vintage photos shown above.
Visited this bridge today, shot some b/w art photos. Chatted with some locals swimming in the creek. According to them, this bridge was built for a blind lady who lived on the hill (west side) to be able to cross the creek to get to the general store she operated about a block away (east) from the bridge. Next to this bridge is a low-water culvert-type bridge for vehicular traffic, and according to the locals, that is all there ever was there for vehicles. The current low water bridge is about 4 years old, replacing an older one that was washed away in high water.
The Cavanaugh bridge was closed recently due to deck supports and floor beams being in bad shape. It is in a nice wooded setting stretching across the river. I hope it gets restored or preserved rather than torn down.
I was born and raised in St. Louis. My father, who is a history buff, told me all about the bridge many times throughout my childhood and its mystique stuck with me. After all these years I still never tire of seeing it. I took the image below at sunrise in August of 2005. Coincidentally, my childhood neighborhood in Crestwood was next to the old Eads mansion which was demolished when I-44 was constructed.
That this wonderful structure is in use again after many years of neglect is one of the great success stories in historic bridge renovation. The lower train deck has been refurbished for use by the Metrolink light rail service and the upper road deck carries vehicular traffic.
Fans of the bridge should be aware of the book "The Eads Bridge". Originally published in 1979, it was out of print for many years until 1999 when a 2nd edition was published by the Missouri Historical Society Press. There is a remarkable, extensive black and white photographic essay and a companion history about the construction of the bridge. It's a wonderful publication.
play with neighbor big mac
My Mom went across the bridge in a rumble seat....she is now 74..that must have been a scarey ride !
This bridge holds fun memories for me. I have crossed it many, many times from the 1960's till this very year, 2007.
My dear Dad, now passed on, made it a fun game for all of us kids. We'd hold our breath just as we got on the bridge and see who could make it till we crossed the other end. He always won of course...he grew up swimming in the Black river. I've crossed it in the worst fog I've ever seen from Portia until you got to Black Rock. I've seen the flood waters of the Black River all the way to the edge of Portia. This is a mighty bridge and as years have gone by I've always wondered about it's strength...now more than ever. I've lived away from Lawrence County for many years now but still go back at least every year or so to see realtives in Smithville and Walnut Ridge and each time I go over the Black River Bridge I hold my breath and so do my own children....I even make it to the end..Dad would be proud !!
The subject of bridges has come up in conversation lately, with the tragedy in Minnesota. I was thinking of the only bridge I was ever fearful of, and the MacArthur Bridge came to mind. My recollections are as a small boy at the time in the late 1950's and early 60's.
I grew up in southern Illinois, about 2 hours south of St. Louis, and we would make the trip several times a year. In those days, there were no interstate highways, and we would travel up IL Route 3. I recall the bridge having a very Gothic type architecture. Very foreboding, especially at night. All of the structure was black, and the approaches had relatively sharp turns. There was a multitude of yellow caution lights and warning signs that added to the effect. Semi-trucks would often mishandle these turns, and become "jacknifed" with the cab hanging over the short guardrails. From a childs perspective, the crossing of the bridge was a scary experience.
The other element I recall, was the stench from the pre-EPA Monsanto plant on the Illinois side of the bridge.
What a unique old bridge. It's a great find. I went to check it out today and took some photos. It was the middle of an extremely hot, bright afternoon so the contrast between light and shadow made it difficult to get a good image. I'll upload a few that I took from water level to give a different perspective.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.
I believe this bridge has been replaced with a new bridge.
I really don't think this bridge is in danger of falling down unless it is not taken care of for thirty years. The only problem I see is it is too small for all of the cars and trucks that try to cross it at one time. People I know in Cincinnati say that ever since the bridge first opened it was terribly congested. I think the two states had no attention span when they were building the bridge. They should have made it at least five lanes on both decks with emergency shoulders, and built the ramps further away. I believe the bridge is still good and strong but just not wide enough for all of the traffic. I wouldnt worry about it falling down. Just stay away from it during rush hour. What I think it would take to take it down would be barges hitting the piers on purpose at one time, or being packed with all 120000 pound overloaded trucks stopped on it rocking which is very UNLIKELY TO HAPPEN. Yes, the bridge is not for I-75 & 71 traffic anymore and a wider bridge needs to be built soon. I dont know if a decision has been made for if this bridge will be demolished or be used for a different lighter road when the new one is built.
As a child in the 1940s our family rumbled across that rusty old bridge many times. We lived on a farm near by. We fished in the Blackwater and occasionally played there also.
My husband, Jack and I. live on the old Henkins place. There was a Raleigh Henkins that came to this area probably in the 1850 or 60's. I am in the process of writing a story about the bridge and the old country store, Gould Farm that was there by the bridge. The trusses and frame work of the old Henkins Bridge, remains in an old shed that I have on our farm. My hopes is to restore the old building. Lavern Henry, who married Raleight Henkins daughter, Lena Mae, told me the story. He was my second cousin. And it is also interesting, we live just up the hill from the the Shoal Creek Bridge, to find we also still have one of the old thorny locust trees livi8ng on our place. Mrs. Henkins had brought the sprouts in her boots when she came to Missouri from New York and planted them. It reminds me of the old Olive Trees in "The Garden" in Jeruselam. I am not sure and haven't found the date when the store, called Gould Farm, was built. It was ran by one of the Henkins, Joe and his wife, Mary Casy Henkins. If anyone has more info on this would love to hear from you. I have lots of help from a man, who now lives in California, Joe Phillips. who was related to the the Combs family. One of the stories told was that John Gray who was from England came to Cowgill, as far as the rail road went and stopped for a while. He had left his wife in London England. He sent for her and she had her hope chest with her, but the old Shoal Creek was out and she took her chest and stayed on the hill. Can you imagine what she was thinking as she sat there waiting for her husband to come after her. The Grays were cousins of Donald Clayton, a well know farmer in this area.I would love to have a picture of the store when it was ran by the Henkins. Any help would be appreciated . . . Joan Hosman 998 N. E. Gould Farm Road Cowgill, Mo. 64637 Phone # 816-583-2069
According to the INDOT Historic Bridge Page this bridge is to be bypassed and remain in place as a pedestrian bridge. They did an excellent job with the restoration of the Boyd bridge (700S-#140) in the Greensburg park. I also hope they will save bridges #18 and #19 over the Flatrock River.
#18 features some nice portal decoration, and #19 is a rare product of the Converse Bridge Co. of Chattanooga, Tenn.
There was quite an interesting TV special on PBS's NOVA all about the construction of this bridge. It was two hours almost lost into detail going from routing the river flow and tower construction to when the roadway was finished. This apparantly sparked interest in some young minds on bridge construction. I don't know if a DVD of this can be purchaced anywhere or if this special will ever air again. I recommend watching it. They also showed the demolition of the old Alton Bridge at the end.
As of 8/6/07 this bridge has been closed. It has not been in that great of shape for many years. I just hope the county does not tear it down. In my opinion, there is plenty of room on the south side to build a new bridge to preserve this one. This is the only one left south of Greensburg over Sand Creek out of several. The 600S bridge south of this one was destroyed by a truck several years ago, and one on 1000S in a nice setting was oblitered by the county not long ago.
The railroad company that owns the bridge has absolutely no plans to reopen the bridge to auto traffic. It would cost them money to replace the deck, with little gain to themselves. But I agree, wouldn't it be great to have at least 2 more lanes going across the Mississippi? Perhaps the bridge could carry reversible express lanes across the river.
Also, this is the bridge that carries Amtrak across the river.
Upper level (eastbound) at the Brroklyn tower:
So, does anybody know any plans for the future of this bridge? This structure is very similar to the Pott's Ford Bridge in Cloud County, KS (1884) and the Spencer's Crossing Bridge in Anderson County, KS (1885), both of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. As this bridge appears to be constructed of wrought iron instead of steel (more popular after about the mid 1890s), it should certainly be a candidate for the NRHP as well.
There's absolutely nothing left of this bridge on the St. Charles side that would indicate that it ever existed. But on the other side of the river, the old approach hill to the bridge is still there (at the end of St. Charles Rock Road), along with the old roadway pavement heading up the hill. Barricades prevent driving up there, but it can certainly be walked.
This bridge was demolished in 2005. It was a very unusual and rare design, with a span that was like a Pennsylvania truss, but one third of the span extended beyond a pier and acted as a cantilever, which held up a smaller truss span. The bridge was likely unique.
This historic bridge was one of the longest bridges in Pennsylvania and it was demolished August 7, 2007 according to a local newspaper.
The above mentioned article states the bridge name as the Kentucky/Illinois Bridge. That is incorrect. It's the Kentucky/Indiana Bridge or more commonly referred to as the K and I. My e-mail address is wrong in that posting as well. Thank you to a local author who brought this to my attention.
Valla Ann Bolovschak
812-981-8000
This bridge was redecked in 2006 with wider lanes and narrower sidewalks. A steel truss pedestrian bridge was placed to the west to make up for the "loss" of sidewalks on the highway bridge.
I rode over the bridge from 1944 to the closing. The bridge talked to us as we drove slowly over the flexible boards. The road to the bridge curved like an S on the south entrance with an elevation entering the bridge...in winter, you hoped it would not be slick due to ice and snow. The Walnut River was usually slow most of the time, a haven for wild life, people fishing and just enjoying the view. The Walnut River at flood stage was a challenge to the bridge. I always hoped the floating trees hitting the bridge supports would not take the bridge out. The sights and sounds of the bridge are still within me and I was saddened when the township and county closed the road. I understood and softly said, "thank you" for my rides across. They were near perfect for a country girl.
man. I've been trying to get deck truss bridges to stay up in the simulator tonight and it's rare! BE CARFULL.
I drove over this bridge yesterday afternoon and snapped photos from the park to the southwest of the bridge.
It's really a very pretty three-span through-truss bridge. I was very excited to have the chance to photograph it.
There is an inscription on the upstream side of what has come to be known as "Esch's Spur" bridge. It reads: KIRK BRIDGE. At least, I think it does. Plus, there are several more lines of information that we could not discern. Anyone able to read more? There is so much debris abutted against the bridge now that it might be able to climb up to the inscription and take a rubbing!
There is an inscription on the upstream side of what has come to be known as "Esch's Spur" bridge. It reads: KIRK BRIDGE. At least, I think it does. Plus, there are several more lines of information that we could not discern. Anyone able to read more? There is so much debris abutted against the bridge now that it might be able to climb up to the inscription and take a rubbing!
This bridge is located in an extremely beautiful location yet poor maintenance has let it deteriorate to a point where I don't know if they will end up having to tear this down. I wouldn't be surprised if this one ends up collapsing someday as a truck drives across. You really start to wonder about the the structural integrity if you go underneath and look around. See http://www.rollanet.org/~conorw/cwome/article51&52combined.htm for more information on the condition of this bridge.