Monday, June 24, 2024

(BNSF+D&I)/Milwaukee Bridge over Big Sioux River at North Sioux City Wiped Out by Flood

(Archived Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)


The museum just east of here has also been impacted by the flood.
 
Evidently the bridge collapsed around 11pm Jun 23, 2024. The TV station must have access to some serious lights.
KTIV News 4 posted
The North Sioux railroad bridge has collapsed into the Big Sioux River.
Andy Saunders: All of this happens very fast... we were 4 hours away heard that spencer was under water and booked it home got back just before the bridge closed... but we have our pups so that's a win even if we're stuck.
[Some comments indicate that some neighborhoods did get trapped by the flood waters because they were not evacuated. They were rescued by boat.]
Tim Ehrenberg shared
South Dakota/Iowa flooding

Normal river level:
Street View, May 2024

The white pier on the right was replaced between Nov 2021 and Sep 2023. Did they already have some flood damage?
Street View, Nov 2021

KTIV News 4 commented on their post

Candace Godbersen-Leff commented on the post by KTIV News 4
This is what it looked like at 7. [4 hours before the collapse.]

Candace also provided a photo of the traffic bridge in response to a request.

Casey Weidler commented on the post by KTIV News 4
At about 2am, it moved several feet south and down in the couple hours I was there

Casey Weidler commented on his comment

James McCabe Jr. commented on the post by KTIV News 4

Ramírez Alvarito commented on the post by KTIV News 4

Jeff Mueller commented on the post by KTIV News 4

Casey Weidler commented on the post by KTIV News 4
 
Casey Weidler commented on his own comment

Michael Peters posted three photos with the comment: "Sad news the old Bridge built by the Milwaukee Road in North Sioux City that has stood for years and has been used by CSX now for years has just fell due to flooding. This is just North East if the old Milwaukee Road Round House and shops in Sioux City, Iowa which is now the Sioux City Railroad Museum.  I haven't heard anything about the Round house yet. The area is closed of water is expected to crest around 7 am. The photos aren't mine because I can't get over there to see it do to road closers."
Tracey Folley-Purviance: BNSF* CSXT does come that far north west.
1

1

2

Comments on Michael's post

Live Storm Chasers posted three photos with the comment: "🚨BREAKING: A Train Bridge between North Sioux City, South Dakota & Sioux City, Iowa has broke in half with part of the bridge in the Big Sioux River due to major flooding!"
Hank Dralle shared
1, LSC Source: Josh Morris, cropped

2, LSC Source: Frank Bullitt, cropped

3, LSC Viewer: Jonni Jean Mills



Back in better days:
Bill Pearsall Flickr
Ferromex SCA
Ferromex leading a BNSF empty grain shuttle across the Big Sioux River into South Dakota, probably going to Jefferson.

More info on DAIR:
IowaDOT


Sunday, June 23, 2024

1882 Fenelon Place Elevator (Funicular) in Dubuque, IA

Bottom: (Satellite, 880 photos)
Top: (Satellite, 3,528 photos)

HS Hose Camping posted
April 1940. Dubuque, Iowa. "Elevator which ascends from downtown district to residential section of bluffs." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon.
James Smith shared
wow, Iowa?
Patrick Thomas Koppes: one of the oldest funicular rails in the US...or the steepest....cant recall their claim...
Dennis DeBruler: Patrick Thomas Koppes Their claim is "the world’s steepest, shortest scenic railway." It is 296' (36m) long and has an elevation of 189' (58m). https://www.fenelonplaceelevator.com/
 
Rob Sterne commented on James' share
It hasn't changed much in 84 years.

FenelonPlaceElevator_history

Xiao Meow, Jun 2023

The funicular is the little black line at the end of 4th street that cuts across a lot of contour lines.
1955 Dubuque South @ 24,000


Wood Deck Truss Bridge over Kootenai River at Libby, MT

(Archived Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite) Champion Haul Road

Street View, Dec 2021

Steve Brown posted
This old wooden bridge in Libby, Montana spans the Kootenai River. Once used by  the lumber industry to take logs to the mill.

The road over the bridge is closed.
Street View, Nov 2021


Saturday, June 22, 2024

1890 Crystal Springs Dam is the oldest mass concrete structure in the world

(Satellite)

Street View, Apr 2022

CivilGEO Inc. Software posted
More than 130 years later, ingenious design helps California dam stand strong
The Crystal Springs Dam’s interlocking concrete block system enhances the structural stability of the mass concrete.
Photograph courtesy of The Reading Room/Alamy
"Crystal Springs Dam, which has a height of 145 ft [44m], is the oldest mass concrete structure built in the 19th century in the U.S. (Photograph courtesy of The Reading Room/Alamy)"

LC-DIG-ppmsca-17716

filoli
This source specifies 154' (47m) as the height of the dam.
This was the first concrete dam that was taller than 95' (29m). The construction of this dam included the invention of steam-powered machines to mix the concrete.

asce
As with most dams in California, this one was built to provide a water supply. In this case, for San Francisco. Chief Engineer Hermann Schussler advised the board of the Spring Valley Water Co. to buy the land of the 23,000-acre San Andreas Valley watershed, which they did.

asce
Hermann was aware that concrete shrank and became hot as it cured, so he built the dam as a series of interlocking blocks. The first set of blocks in a layer would be built like a checkerboard. Then the empty spaces would be filled in. The center of a block of the next layer would be built over the intersection of four blocks in the previous layer. And this photo shows that the blocks where keyed into the adjacent blocks. This created a dam that was strong enough to survive the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes without any significant damage even though it is only 1,100' (335m) east of to the San Andreas Fault.

asce
The dam is 600' (183m) long and contains 157,000 cu. yd. of concrete. It has a total capacity of 19 billion gallons. A 44" (1.1m) wrought iron pipeline that is 89,500' (27.3km, 17miles) long delivered the water via gravity to a terminal reservoir in San Francisco. "The pipeline performed well for many years before being replaced."


Queen Creek Bridges and Tunnel near Superior, AZ

1949 Bridge: (Archived Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite, 225 photos)
1921 Bridge: (Archived Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite, 53 photos)

1921:
A Z, Feb 2023

1949:
Steve Schott, Apr 2024

1952, West Portal:
Street View, Apr 2024

More photos of the 1949 bridge

Jason, Feb 2019

Darel Maden posted
Queen Creek US 60 Arizona

Neo Rodriguez, Jan 2017

Neo Rodriguez, Feb 2017

Neo Rodriguez, Feb 2017

Just to the right of the semi-truck on the left side of this view you can see part of the tunnel portal. To the right of center, I think the black rectangle is the portal for the old tunnel.
Street View, Apr 2024

Tomas Larzsohn, Mar 2023


Friday, June 21, 2024

2022 Waaban Crossing Bridges over Great Cataraqui River in Kingston, ON

(Satellite, it has yet to show up on Google Maps in Jun 2024. But it is labeled on that map.)

The importance of this crossing ballooned on Apr 1, 2024, when it was announced that the LaSalle Causeway would not reopen after weekend rehabilitation work. In June, the government decided that the crossing would be closed for many moons while the bridge is replaced. With the downstream bridge closed, this 2-lane bridge is teaching the locals what big traffic jams look like during rush hour.

"Bridges" is plural in the title because they talk about the West Bridge, Main Bridge and East Bridge.

"When completed, this $180 million project was on time and on budget." [ThousandIslandsLife]

queenssu
The 1.2km (3/4 mile) crossing opened in Dec 2022.
Waaban Crossing is "named after an Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) word relating to the east and sunrise."

systra_awards, cropped
The bridge has won some awards.

systra_opened
This article talks about "vehicles and soft modes." That is the first time I have seen the term "soft modes" for, I presume, pedestrian and bike traffic.
Ojibwe is the "Algonquian language spoken in the Great Lakes region. It is one of the most widely spoken Amerindian languages."
"One of the particularities of the project is its contractual form: SYSTRA IBT, the engineering firm Hatch and the construction company Kiewit formed an IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) contract with the City of Kingston, an integrated grouping that is a first in North America for linear infrastructure. One challenge is that it is the largest transportation project ever funded in Kingston’s history."

Street View, Nov 2020

cpci
This article uses the term "Multi-Use Path (MUP)." It is on the south side and is 4m (13') wide.

cpci
The precast concrete NU girders are over 2m deep. The West Bridge is 900m long and has 17 spans. So, the girders must be about 53m (174') long. "To support the bridge, caissons were cored into bedrock to depths of over 40 metres (131 feet)." 

NU Girders:
cpci
"Developed at the University of Nebraska in the 1990s, NU Girders are prestressed concrete I-girders optimized for performance in two-span bridges and with full-length post-tensioning. They can be pretensioned girders, post-tensioned girders or a combination of both techniques. In a pretensioned girder, the top flange is reinforced with standard reinforcing steel comprising a basic grid of transverse and longitudinal bars, and four straight prestressing strands. A maximum of 72 strands can be accommodated, of which up to 26 are located within the web. These 26 strands can be deviated as necessary for the design. The bottom flange is highly reinforced with straight prestressing strands. NU Girders can be fabricated in depths ranging from 1,200 mm to 2,800 mm, in increments of 400 mm. A 2,000 mm deep NU Girder is referred to as an NU 2000. (Courtesy NU Girder Bridge Design and Detailing Manual, 2018 by Alberta Transportation.)"
(systra adds: they "offer greater resistance to flexion-torsion.")

beam-architects
The arch span is 95m (312'). The Rideau Canal uses this river to complete its connection to Lake Ontario. That canal is "North America’s oldest operational canal and a significant engineering heritage asset." A competition rowing course also shares the navigation span.

The vertical clearance is 27' (8.2m). [WaterwayGuide]

11:03 video @ 1:22
 
1 of many annotated photos by aerosnapper
Liebherr LR-1300 cranes deliver a girder
Two cranes lower an 85t concrete girder onto piers in weak winter light