1898+1955 US-67 Bridges over Illinois River and 1943 Flood at Beardstown, IL

1898: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

1955: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; John A Weeks III; Satellite)

1898 Toll Bridge

BridgeHunter_1898

Aaron Briar posted

BridgeHunter_1898

Lisa Ruble posted

Beardstown Bridge and Illinois River 

May 1943

Cass County

Norman Schafer shared

Sandy Lawber Ragan commented on Lisa's post
May 1943

Lisa Ruble answered Rory's question
The old bridge was where the Beardstown River Look is now. The bridge was built for wagons and was never meant to be used for vehicles. Looked scary!

Because of the flood wall, they are now prepared for the river to get a lot higher.

Street View, Aug 2023

1955 Bridge

John Weeks
"Beardstown was one of the earlier cities to be settled in Illinois. It was bigger than Chicago for several decades. The city was nicknamed Porkopolis due to the large pig yards and slaughterhouse operations. That trade shifted to Chicago when the railroad arrived in 1859. Beardstown was also a major hub of riverboat traffic, but that also diminished when passenger service was offered by the railroads."

John Weeks
"The Beardstown Bridge is one massive bridge, something that would only be expected on the lower Mississippi or other similarly large river. The main bridge is a through truss span about 1,365 feet long, with a 540 foot main span for navigation traffic. It rises nearly 70 feet above the water to the low steel line. To the north, there is a second through truss bridge about 710 feet long. A 1,000 foot long trestle crosses a backwater slough to the north, and a 500 foot steel deck truss bridge spans a creek on the south end. The overall river crossing is 2/3 of a mile."

HistoricBridges
"This bridge consists of a two span continuous truss and a three span continuous truss, making it a unique pair of truss styles."

Because of trees and the flood wall, this is the best street view that I could find.

Street View, Aug 2023

Sep 11, 1955 photo by Jacksonville Daily Journal via BridgeHunter_1955

Photo by Steve Conro via BridgeHunter_1955

More about the 1898 Bridge and 1943 Flood

Julie Chenoweth Terstiep commented on Lisa's post

Lisa commented on her post
The Beardstown Wagon Bridge was built in 1898.

Lisa commented on her post
1943

Lisa commented on her post

Lisa commented on her post
May 22nd 1943

Lisa commented on her post
May 26th 1943

Lisa commented on her post

Lisa commented on her post
1936

1956 IL-141+IN-62 Wabash Memorial Toll Bridge over Wabash River west of Mt. Vernon, IN

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

Indiana built the bridge and charged tolls until July 1, 2014. [ArchivedBridgeHunter comments and indot]

The 2,400' (731.5m) long bridge has a main span of 427' (130.1m). [HistoricBridges]

It is so nice to see a steel bridge with a fresh coat of paint.

Street View, Sep 2025

John Albert Christeson Jr. posted
Bridge over The Wabash River on Illinois 141/Indiana 62

HistoricBridges and BridgeHunter, The Decatur Daily Review: October 2 1955
HistoricBridges explains that the design is a tied arch with a continuous truss.

This is where the arch part of the truss launches from a pier.

Street View, Sep 2025

Another view of the arch part.

Street View, Sep 2025

The Illinois approach is long because of a flood plain.

Street View, Sep 2015

But the Indiana approach is even longer.

Street View, Apr 2018

This is a view of the entire bridge. I dropped a pin to mark the west end. I could still see the east end after zooming out far enough to include the whole bridge because of the shadow on a field

Satellite

1957,1992+202? I-476 Hawk Falls Bridges over Mud Run in Carbon County, PA

1957: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Bridges Now and Then posted
"View of the Hawk Falls Bridge under construction. The image is from July 26, 1956." (Courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives)

modjeski

modjeski
"The Hawk Falls Bridge Replacement Project is progressing, with construction estimated to commence in 2021. The replacement Hawk Falls Bridge will be a 720’ [219m] long steel structure featuring a 480’ [146m] deck arch span flanked by four 60’ [18.3m] deck plate girder spans. As with the current bridge, the new bridge will carry two traffic lanes in each direction, but it will also provide 12’ wide outside shoulders and 6’ wide median shoulders. Three welded, steel box arch ribs will be utilized to create an aesthetically pleasing structure that spans the deep Mud Run Valley located within Hickory Run State Park"

modjeski_replacement
"Nearly 3,500 tons of structural steel were used, with most external components made of uncoated weathering steel. This material blends with the site’s natural color palette and offers a durable, low-maintenance solution. Vierendeel struts between the arches, and the absence of spandrel column bracing creates a more open, graceful appearance, ensuring the bridge harmonizes with its surroundings."

pahistoricpreservation, courtesy of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
"The bridge consists of a 738-foot [225m], three-span, continuous deck truss, with a single-span I-beam approach at each end. It was one of the tallest bridges on the Pennsylvania Turnpike system, with its road surface approximately 195 feet [59.4m] above Mud Run."
The replacement was supposed to be done by 2025. I'm writing this in Apr 2026 and it is not done.

rettew

aisc

hillintl

lsc-pagepro
"The arch ribs were erected using cranes located behind the abutments. Modjeski & Masters"

lsc-pagepro
"The arch rigs' box section had to be large enough for an inspector to walk upright wearing a hardhar. Theresa Davies"

1923+1957 US-90 Bridges over Pecos River west of Comstock, TX

1923: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite, the bridge was destroyed by a flood on June 26, 2954)

1957: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

2013 photo by Nathan Morton via BridgeHunter_1957

The Pecos River is still skinny because the Lake Amistad Dam was not built until 1969.

Chris Spear posted
The "new" U.S. 90 bridge over the Pecos River canyon under construction in this photo circa 1956. Located about 40 miles west of Del Rio, Tx. Previous river level road crossings had all been washed away in flash floods. Note the workers atop the concrete pier.

The bridge in the valley in the above photo must have been a construction bridge. The original US-90 bridge was further downstream at what is now a boat ramp. The road down to the boat ramp was the old US-90.

Satellite

This is a mix of two topo maps. The black line is the old US-90 and the red line is today's US-90.

1944 Mouth of Pecos Quad @ 62,500 and 1972 Seminole Canyon Quad @ 24,000

TXDOT via BridgeHunter_1923

This shows how the road had to climb along the side of the canyon.

BridgeHunter_1923

1947,1978 US-340 Sandy Hook (Harpers) Bridge over Potomac River near Loudoun Heights, VA

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

This 2,251' (686m) long bridge has 12 190' (58m) spans. [HistoricBridges]

2015 photo by Antony 22 via BridgeHunter

This view has a higher river level.

May 16, 2014 photo by Jodi Chrstman via BridgeHunter

There are four continuous truss units made of three spans each. [HistoricBridges]

In the upper-right corner we see the ends of two of the continuous units.

Joshua Gregoir, Oct 2022

Metrotrails posted

The Sandy Hook Bridge over the Potomac River seen below the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Sandy Hook Maryland. 

The Metal Continuous 11 Panel Rivet-Connected Warren Deck Truss Bridge was built in 1946 by the Bethlehem Steel Company.

Metrotrails shared

Metrotrails posted with the same description as above.