Industrial History

Friday, July 26, 2024

1935 Mississippi Lock and Dam #20 near Canton, MO

"The maximum lift is 10.5 feet with an average lift of 5.3 feet....The movable dam has three non-submersible roller gates (20 feet high by 60 feet long), 34 non-submersible Tainter gates (20 feet high by 40 feet long), and six submersible Tainter gates (20 feet high by 40 feet long). The submersible Tainter gates submerge three feet." [USACE]

Note the high river level. All of the gates are out of the water. There was flooding on the Mississippi in 2024. Some of the locks closed in July.

Street View, Jun 2024

In the only other comparable view available, we can't see the river level.

Street View, Jul 2012

And then it occured to me that I could get a different view to compare the river levels.

Street View, Jul 2012

Judging by the height and maintenance of the levees behind the tracks, there are times when those tracks are under water. According to the 2004 SPV Map, those are CB&Q tracks that are now used by BNSF and NS.

Street View, Jun 2024

The gates were also out of water in 2008, but the river level wasn't nearly as high on the lock walls.

Johns Weeks, 1 of several photos

Johns Weeks

David Webster posted two photos.

Mirandaandseth Wyman: Lock 20 Canton Missouri

1
[The river is still running high on Jul 23, 2024]

NOAA

Those trees on the right are near the westernmost point of Illinois.

Street View, Jun 2012

HAER_grid

Thursday, July 25, 2024

120mw Parker Dam creates Lake Havasu

(Satellite, 150 photos)

I learned of Lake Havasu when I researched the London Bridge.

usbr
"Parker Dam is a concrete arch structure commonly called the 'deepest dam in the world'. Seventy-three percent of the dam's structural height of 320 feet [98m] is below the original river bed; only about 85 feet [26m] of the dam's structural height is visible (its superstructure rises another 62 feet [19m] above the roadway across the top of the dam). Parker Dam has a volume of 380,000 cubic yards of concrete. At its crest, the dam is 856 feet [261m] long. Water control is provided by five 50-ft [50m]-square gates." The capacity of the powerplant is 120mw.

usbr
"Lake Havasu backs up behind the dam for 45 miles and covers more than 20,400 acres (32 square miles). The reservoir's total capacity is 646,200 acre-feet. The Metropolitan Water District`s W. P. Whitsett Intake Pumping Plant for the Colorado River Aqueduct is located on the shore of Lake Havasu about two miles upstream from the dam. The aqueduct begins at the intake pumping plant and extends 242 miles to its terminus at Lake Mathews near Riverside, California. About half of the power generated at Parker Dam is reserved by MWD to pump Colorado River water along the Colorado River Aqueduct."

Bureau of Reclamation posted
In July of 1937, the first bucket of concrete was placed in Parker Dam, 245 feet [75m] below the level of #ColoradoRiver. One year later, the last bucket of concrete was placed, and Lake Havasu began to fill in October of 1938.

nps

Don Barrett Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)

LivingNewDeal
This dam is considered a diversion dam. "The diversion of the water from the Colorado River is made by the Parker Dam which raises the water level in the river 72 feet [22m] to the first pumping plant. The main aqueduct consists of 91 miles of tunnel, 55 miles of cut and cover conduit, 65 miles of lined canal, and 27 miles of various kinds of reassure pipe, making a total of 238 miles of aqueduct. The total pump lift, after diversion is completed by the Parker Dam, is 1,614 feet [492m]."

1921 Kansas Avenue Bridge over Kansas River and 23rd Street Viaduct in Kansas City

Bridge: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Viaduct: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

The Kansas Avenue Bridge in Kansas City, KS, connects with the Avenida Cesar E Chavez (23rd Street) Viaduct in Kansas City, MO.

The bridge is 1,395' (425m) long with a main span of 322' (98m). [HistoricBridges]

The viaduct is 2,381' (725m, 1/2 miles) long. [BridgeHunter_viaduct]

HistoricBridges

Because of the flood wall that we see left of center in the above photo, I could not find any decent street views of the bridge. And because of the trees, HistoricBridges shows that it is hard to get a good elevation shot of the bridge even if you get on the other side of the flood wall. But this model of the bridge on a parade float below gives us a clear view of the north elevation of the bridge. In the above photo and the model below, we cans see that the east truss is cantilevered past its pier and holds up the west end of the steel girders for the approach span.

Archived MyPresentPast

The viaduct carries traffic over the floodplain of the Kansas River and...

Street View, Apr 2019

...connects with the local roads up on the river bluff.

Street View, Apr 2019

The viaduct was built with concrete girders. This is a section between expansion joints.

Street View, Dec 2023

During construction, a truss span was damaged because high water and floating ice compromised the falsework.

Engineering News
[The bridge in the background is the abandoned Rock Island Bridge.]

The bridge was closed in July 2022 following an inspection. In Mar 2023, the Unified Government finally authorized money for repairs. Repairs were expected to begin in Aug 2023 and be completed by Feb, 2024. [fox4kc]

Those repairs were emergency repairs, and they would be stranded assets because they plan to replace the bridge by Oct 2029. The average daily traffic is 7,100. [fox4kc_presentation]

I have not been able to find when the repairs were actually completed.

There are two interstate and three local bridges across the Kansas River connecting the KS and MO parts of Kansas City. The closure of this bridge in July 2022 removed two out of the three local bridges because the 1919 Central Avenue Bridge had already been closed Feb 1, 2021. [wycokck]

And Google Map shows that the third local bridge, James Street, is "temporarily closed" when I write this in July 2024.

This photo is what motivated my research of this 1921 bridge and viaduct. But I learned that this is a photo of the I-70 Viaduct.

KKFI 90.1 FM posted
Then-and-now: The Lewis and Clark Viaduct opened to the public in 1907 as a roadway bridge connecting Kansas City, Missouri with Kansas City, Kansas. Built to withstand flooding, the bridge featured a pedestrian walkway, lanes for wagon traffic, and streetcar tracks.

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Hurricane Gulch Bridges near Denali State Park, AK

1971 Road: (Satellite, 603 photos)

1921 Railroad: (Satellite)

Road

Rockford Weber, Jun 2019

OnlyInYourState, Dr. Cherepanov / Google Maps, this website has a lot more photos and a drone video
"It is 558 feet [170m] long and soars over the gulch at an impressive 254 feet [77.4m] high....The railroad bridge with the same name, the Hurricane Gulch Bridge, is the tallest bridge in Alaska. For the span of a couple of years, it was actually the tallest bridge in America....That bridge also crosses over Hurricane Creek and sits 296 feet [90m] high."

Seth Jones, Jun 2021

Railroad

AlaskaRails, Photo courtesy of Anchorage Museum of History and Art, BL79.2.301
Freight train crossing Hurricane Gulch, date unknown.
Hurricane Gulch Bridge was completed in 1921.

GraylineAlaska

Southland Holdings posted three photos with the comment:

From the AB archives: 104 years ago, American Bridge Company began constructing the Hurricane Gulch Bridge in Alaska. The project involved a 918’ [180m] long deck arch railroad bridge with a 384' [117m] arch span over the gorge. The arch was erected by the cantilever method, using derrick cars so that construction could proceed from both sides simultaneously. The bridge also included two 120' deck truss spans, one 50' plate girder span, and a 240' viaduct. The bridge has an elevation of 297' [90m] above Hurricane Creek and is the longest and tallest bridge on the Alaska Railroad.

alaska
Title taken from front. View of Alaska Engineering Commission Railway construction on railroad bridge over Hurricane Gulch, Alaska, with crane in center of photo and construction workers on bridge. Also from front: "A.E.C. G1889." An Alaska Engineering Commission photo. Photographer's number G1889. Aug. 8, 1921. Photographer: H.G.K. Original photograph size: 6 1/4" x 8 1/4".

Brad Nicholson, Jun 2022

LA-1 and MoPac Bridges over the Intracoastal Waterway in West Baton Rouge, LA

LA-1: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

MoPac: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

In the street view below, they are building the $57.7m phase one bridge. It was supposed to be completed in early 2023. [wbrparish]

Given the big gap still in the bridge in Mar 2024, they did not meet the original schedule.

Construction was halted in Spring 2023 "after DOTD found that the piers for the bridge were sinking more than expected.Since then, a fix was engineered, and the contractor, Kiewit Construction, has had a sub-contractor working on low mobility grouting to stabilize the piers. That is expected to be completed before the end of this year. Kiewit will begin construction work on the bridge again in early 2024." Phase one should be done by the end of 2024. [wafb]

Street View, Mar 2024

Kiewit Corporation posted four photos with the comment:

Progress continues in West Baton Rouge Parish as we work on constructing the new southbound LA-1 Intracoastal Bridge.
The construction of the southbound bridge is Phase 1 of a two-phase project to replace the existing bridges built 60 years ago. The new bridges will provide additional lanes and wider shoulders for more accessibility and safety, help with traffic congestion and be a more efficient route for hurricane evacuations in Louisiana.
Kiewit is the general contractor on Phase 1. Phase 2 includes the demolition of the old bridges and the construction of the new northbound bridge.