1942 108mw Mansfield Dam and Lake Travis on Colorado River near Marshall Ford, TX

(Satellite)

Street View, Mar 2025

lcra
"Lake Travis is the only lake in the Highland Lakes chain specifically designed to hold back floodwaters. Lake Travis is considered full for water supply purposes at 681 feet msl. At that level, the lake contains 1.1 million acre-feet of water. Lake Travis is designed to hold an additional 776,062 acre-feet of floodwaters in what is referred to as the flood pool."
The dam is 7,089 (2,160m) long and 278' (85m) tall. It has a generating capacity of 108mw. Spillway elevation is 714', and the top of the dam is 750'.
The total discharge capacity is more than 131kcfs.

2025:

Facebook Reel

Facebook Reel

2026 also got a lot of rain. In some places, this year's record broke the record set just last year. Lake Travis is now 100% full, the first time since 2019.

cbsaustin
One floodgate was opened early on Jul 18, and the second one was expected to open on Jul 19.

Boating is not allowed on the lakes while some gates are open.

CBS Austin posted
 https://cbsaustin.com/.../lcra-opens-floodgates-at-tom...
"Lake Travis, which forms behind Mansfield Dam, was expected to rise to a range of 685 to 686 feet above mean sea level through the day Saturday, LCRA said. The lake reached 'full' capacity of 681 feet Friday night for the first time since July 2019, after rising 9 feet in 24 hours, according to CBS Austin meteorologists."
[So the lake got 5' above conservation level.]

This opening was the 9th time since it was completed in 1941. [reddit]

Even though the dam has 24 floodgates, the most that have been used is six in 1957. [lcra_rehabilitation]

St. Claude and Claiborne Avenue Bridges over, and Lock on, Industrial Canal

From north to south or going upstream.

Claiborne: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite) Judge Seeber Bridge

Lock: (Satellite)

St. Claude: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

The formal name for the Industrial Canal is the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IH-NC).

1957 Claiborne Avenue Bridge (Judge Seeber Bridge)

The blue lift bridge towers in the right background are for the Florida Avenue Bridge.

Street View, Aug 2019

2011 photo by C Hanchey via ArchivedBridgeHunter_claiborne
["This bridge was refurbished in 2013 with new concrete railings and a new coat of paint." [Matt Lohry comment on ArchivedBridgeHunter_claiborne]]

HistoricBridges_claiborne
"This vertical lift bridge, which also includes a long approach system, stands out in Louisiana for its large size."

Industrial Canal Lock

The Claiborne Avenue Bridge is in the background, and this view was taken from the St. Claude Avenue Bridge.

Street View, Mar 2016

USACE, New Orleans District posted
PRESS RELEASE: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, released the Final General Reevaluation Report and Integrated Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) Lock Replacement Project for a 30-day public review from July 10, 2026, through August 10, 2026.
https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Releases/Article/4540034/usace-releases-final-ihnc-report-for-review/

Charlie Everhardt: US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District This Project has had Final Reports since the 1960s. On opening day, I will believe it.

Michael Park: Here comes the Corp of Carpetbaggers. The most invasive species in Louisiana.

[I could not find an estimated cost figure. It is planned to take several years to complete the project.]

Charlie wasn't kidding, they have been studying the replacement since March, 1956.

@ 4:55

The plan is to replace the lock with a larger lock between Claiborne and Florida Avenues and to replace the St. Claude Bridge. Also, some of the flood walls will be replaced with levees for aesthetic reasons. (Are they replacing flood walls that were just built after Hurricane Katrina?)

@ 0:02

Part of the replaning: "The lock has been resized from 1,200 feet and -36 feet deep to 900 feet by 22 feet deep, reflecting the removal of deep-draft navigation following the closure of the MRGO." (I don't know what the MRGO was.)

@ 3:46
"The lock now ranks first in average transit time and second in average delay time of any lock in the nation. It's also increasingly unreliable with more frequent unplanned outages and a growing backlog of maintenance needs."

@ 8:08

I noticed the big crane in the street view at the top of these notes. I see that they also permanently store stop logs at the lock. So, is there a dedicated crane because of the frequency of emergency maintenance outages or because of the risk of draining the Mississippi River or because of another reason?

Satellite

The lock helps connect the Mississippi River with the eastern part of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW).

@ 1:51

1919 St. Claude Avenue Bridges

@ 4:23

2010 photo by Bob Morgan via BridgeHunter_claude

As part of the lock replacement, this Strauss bridge will be replaced by a trunnion bridge.

@ 6:14

Another view of the stop-log crane. This bridge was originally built for rail and highway, then it was converted to just highway.

Street View, Mar 2023

1915,1997 "It's a Wonderful Life" Bridge and National Women's Hall of Fame/1844 Knitting Mills in Seneca Falls, NY

Bridge: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite) also Bridge Street and Bailey

Mill: (Satellite)

The bridge is over the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, which connects to the Erie Canal.

US-20 goes along the north side of the canal through Seneca Falls.

Street View, May 2023

John Kucko Digital posted
Seneca Falls and It’s a Wonderful Life:  In the background is the steel “Bailey Bridge”, widely considered the real life inspiration for the Bedford Falls bridge “It’s a Wonderful Life” classic.  On the left is is the old 1844 Seneca Knitting Mills, now the National Women’s Hall of Fame and in the foreground are packet boats rented by users to enjoy the Seneca River on the way to the nearby Erie Canal—you can inquire at the Erie Canal Adventures.  This area is a fabulous part of the Finger Lakes Region and I captured this nine years ago today.

Bridge Street Bridge may have been the inspiration, but it wasn't the bridge. The bridge was built on a backlot in RKO Studios. In fact, the whole town was the inspiration for Bedford Falls. [imdb via J.R. Manning comment via ArchivedBridgeHunter]

2021 photo by Josh Schmid via BridgeHunter

1976,1989 29mw Kaw Dam on Arkansas River near Ponca City, OK

(Satellite)

The dam was finished in 1976, the hydroelectric plant was built 1987-89. It has one vertical Kaplan turbine with a head of 76' (23m) and a rating of 29mw. The peak rating is 36.7 MVA. [ompa]

35kcfs

Facebook Reel

Most of the dam is earth fill.

Street View, Mar 2026

The spillway has 8 radial gates.

Street View, Mar 2026

I see a couple of outlet conduits in the above view. Are both of them open in this view, or just the near one?

password 123, Jun 2024

ompa, p1

ompa, p2

ompa, p3

I think the pipe coming out of the building is a "slip stream nozzle" that was added in 1995 as one of the "improvements to increase the dissolved oxygen levels in the water being discharged from the Kaw hydro power facilities." [ompa, p3]

Ray, Jul 2024

1870+1902+2026 NS/Pennsy Bridge over East Fork Whitewater River in Richmond, IN

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

"Originally built about 1870, current trusses built in 1902 on original stone substructures." [BridgeHunter]

Street View, Aug 2024

Bituminous Kole posted two photos with the comment: "Future show: First train to roll over the new Norfolk Southern bridge over the Whitewater River in Richmond Indiana: 64Q. Yes, a loaded ethanol train. Bold."

J.B. Rail Photog shared

1
[The old trusses are between the yellow and red cranes and a new span for the south side is behind the yellow crane by the river.]

2
[The 1870 arch continues to be used.]

Bill Dwyer commented on the above post
The old one comes out...

Gary Pope posted
West side of the John’s Manville lead is in place.

The trusses were pin connected.

2010 photo by Anthony Dillon via BridgeHunter

Historic Photo via BridgeHunter

BridgeHunter

1:05:59 video @ 1:07
36 Hours From Last Train Over Old Bridge to First Train Over New Bridge
"After several months of staging equipment and materials, the demolition and replacement of Warfolk Southern's bridge over the Whitewater River in Richmond, Indiana was replaced in just days. The world's third tallest crane was instrumental in getting this work done so quickly."
At 8:24 I saw the name Terex on the crane.
I'm surprised they don't have a second hook with far fewer leads to handle the lighter loads such as track so that they could move the load much faster.
(I shoved the cursor over the railfanning parts.)

They do have the extra counterweights attached to lift the truss.

@ 40:54

He went home after this scene, so I was left with the question of how did the crane turn further to get rid of the truss? If it turned much further, its added counterweight would bump into the new span that is stored under the arch. I decided that the truss is close enough to the crane that they can remove the extra counterweight. Then they can turn the crane further and walk the crane towards the storage area for the old truss. That would explain why the crane pad is set up so that the crane can move back and forth. They needed the extra counterweight just to reach over the river to lift the second span off its piers.

@ 46:43

Note the use of spreader bars under a spreader bar so that they can lift the track at four different spots. Rails are remarkably flexible and need a lot of support.

@ 48:21

At 52:32 is the worse excavator operation that I have watched. I would think they would assign one of their better operators to this time-sensitive job.

1933,1999,2011 Nebraska Iron Bridge over Tionesta Creek east of Oil City, PA

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

PA Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau posted three photos with the comment:

Friday Facts about the world-famous Nebraska Bridge in Forest County.

For most of the year vehicles cross the Nebraska Bridge near the quaint town of Tionesta without incident. The 187-foot-long structure over Tionesta Creek functions like many other truss bridges in western Pennsylvania, and its everyday appearance doesn’t indicate anything unusual about its existence. It’s a completely ordinary bridge with one exception: For at least few weeks each year, it’s underwater.

Built in 1933, the Nebraska Bridge took its name from the small lumber community of Nebraska that it served. At that point, Tionesta Creek flowed freely to the Allegheny River, and although the waterway swelled and shrank some with seasonal rains and snowmelt, the bridge sat high enough to provide regular access across the creek. Unfortunately, many communities downriver weren’t so fortunate, and intermittent flooding created recurring problems as development increased along the Allegheny’s banks.

To control this flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the Tionesta Dam during the late 1930s and put it into service in 1940. While its creation would ultimately prevent hundreds of millions of dollars of damage downriver, the residents of Nebraska four miles upstream of the dam had to relocate, as the impounded water would inevitably overtake their homes. However, the Nebraska Bridge stayed in place, and for more than three-quarters of a century now, it has regularly disappeared underwater and emerged again as water levels rise and fall behind the dam.

At normal levels, the water flows close to the underside of the bridge, but kayakers and canoers can sometimes pass safely underneath. A launch site and parking lot at the bridge’s southern end give easy access when the water is low enough, and boaters can continue on to the dam at the western end of Tionesta Lake. When the water is high, paddlers have the unique opportunity to navigate through the upper beams of the bridge and explore a completely different waterscape.

William Koller, bridge engineer for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s northwest region, notes that the Nebraska Bridge is structurally sound, thanks in part to renovations in 1999 and 2011, and regularly inspected for safety.

Learn more and find other interesting places to visit in Pennsylvania’s Great Outdoors region online at VisitPAGO.com. 

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PennDOT via HistoricBridges
"This bridge will soon be the only truss bridge in all of Forest County. This bridge is also noted for annually being flooded well above the deck, making this a "seasonal" crossing to say the least. The flood waters that this bridge receives are due to a nearby dam. As such, the flood waters are not raging floodwaters that carry a truss bridge off its abutments and crush it into scrap metal downstream, but are instead more or less calm and just drown the bridge. Water levels have risen high enough such that the entire bridge was underwater. In one of these cases, after the water level dropped, a bunch of debris that was floating on the water was left on top of the truss."

PennDOT via HistoricBridges

Travis Fisher, Apr 2022