SP/Northwestern Pacific (NWP) Direct-Lift Bridge over Eureka Slough in Eureka, CA

Swing: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges)

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

The remnants of the 1916 direct-lift bridge is near the left.

Street View, Jun 2025

RRAdventures posted five photos with the comment: "Northwestern Pacific Railroad - Eureka Slough Lift Bridge."

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An earlier bridge had a swing span.

David Edwards, Mar 2023

The lift for this bridge was a Strauss design. This diagram is for a similar Strobel design.

From Historic Bridges, Source: Journal of the Western Society of Engineers, 1914 via Dennis DeBruler

The north pier is round because it held the former swing span. [ArchivedBridgeHunter_lift]

Was reopened as of Jul 2018 for use by a trail and excursion trains. [BridgeHunter_lift]

Joseph Oliver, Jul 2021

Doug Lee, Jun 2025

The bridge is near the upper-right corner of this map.

1958/59 Eureka Waud @ 24,000

This bridge was near the northern end of the NWP route. Some sources show that Southern Pacific owned this route for a while.

A new NWP was incorporated in 2006 and started freight operations on the part south of Windsor, CA, in 2011. [up]

nwprrhs

Bridge Construction Collapse over Stillwater River near Old Town, ME

(Satellite)

The girders are neither steel nor concrete. Thus, I used the label "bridgeRare" for these notes.

9:49 video @ 0:02

I think the span that collapsed is the closest one in this view.

Street View, May 2026

18:05 video @ 5:02
Maine Bridge Collapse Update

;;;

1:29 video @ 0:19
Maine DOT releases video of Old Town bridge collapse

Sep 1, 2026: 13:22 video update with new drone footage

Sep 25, 2026: 14:54 video about Maine DOT going back to using steel girders

1880 Bridge Street and 1874 Rockland Road Bridges over Sparkill Creek in Piermont, NY

1880: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

1874: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

1880 Bridge Street Bridge

Today, I researched two bridges built by the King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company. This is one of them, and the Hale Bowstring Iron Bridge at Anamosa, IA is the other.

Street View, Sep 2016

Street View, Jul 2019

Christopher R Hernandez posted four photos with the comment: "ridge Street Bridge, Sparkill Creek, Piermont, NY.  Built 1880 by King Iron Bridge Company of Cleveland.  Hand cranked bridge."

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Digitally Zoomed

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HsitoricBridges_1880
Nathan rates this bridge with two 10s.
"This is the oldest known surviving bascule bridge in the United States and the only known example in the country of a simple archaic draw bridge design. As a movable bridge it is truly tiny, and would have only allowed very small boats to pass. The creek it is located on is also very small. Bridges of this design are more common in Europe. The bridge was hand-operated and simple counterweighted chains would wrap around the counterweight sheaves to pull the bascule leaf up. In this manner it resembles a medieval castle drawbridge. The bascule leaf and the approach span has riveted connections, making it an extremely early surviving rivet-connected truss bridge in the United States. The bridge has been bypassed and preserved in place for pedestrians. The bridge retains good historic integrity considering its age, although some rivets on the trusses have been replaced with bolts. The rivets that survive have a primitve appearance to them indicative of the early use of rivets. Because of its rarity and age it is one of the most unique and important historic bridges in the state. The bridge is worthy of consideration of National Register National Significance."

Street View, Oct 2025

1874 Rockland Road Bridge

2021 photo by Patrick Gurwell via BridgeHunter_1874

Christopher R Hernandez posted eight photos with the comment: "Rockland Road Bridge, Piermont, NY.  Historic stone and brick arch bridge built 1874."

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SOC and 1951 Double-Swing Bridges over North Landing River at Chesapeake, VA

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

SOC = Strauss Overhead Counterweight

Douglas Butler posted
Credit to Will: Here is a 94 ft North Landing Strauss Overhead  Counterweight Bascule Bridge built in 1916 carrying Virginia Route 165 Mt Pleasant Rd near Chesapeake, VA was replaced with today's 1951 double swing bridge.

Ben Wocken, Aug 2019

You can barely see the second set of humps in the girders.

Street View, Aug 2011

For small boats, they open just one span. I've never seen a double swing span for such a narrow opening before. Maybe it is so they can half the wear on each span that they used it here.

Tim Brown, Aug 2020

Here they are both open.

Sancho Castro, Feb 2020

Because of the angle, we can barely see the span on the right.

Christine Heinsohn, Dec 2019

1898,1994 Glimmer Glass Bridge near Manasquan Inlet at Brielle, NJ

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

I classified this as a trunnion bridge because the span does pivot on a trunnion. But I added the label "bridgeRare" because it doesn't use the usual counterweight design.

Metrotrails posted

The Glimmer Glass Drawbridge is one of the only counterweight draw bridges of it's kind, located near the Manasquan Inlet, a section known as the "Glimmer Glass" at the Jersey Shore.

The cable lift Bascule bridge featuring rolling counterweight design was built in 1898, and may be the only surviving bridge of its kind in the eastern US.

The Glimmer Glass is a navigable, tidal channel of the Manasquan River between Manasquan and Brielle, Monmouth County NJ.

Metrotrails shared

Street View, Feb 2022

Street View, Aug 2017

Street View, Feb 2022

2009 Ben Eriksen Flickr via Bridge Hunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 
"A VERY Tight Fit"

HistoricBridges, Photo credit: Elaine Deutsch, 2016
"Bridge Status: At risk for demolition and replacement."
The 279' (85m) long bridge has a movable span of 34' (10.4m).
"This is the last known surviving example of a Belidor type bascule bridge in the country. Despite never being common here, this bascule type was also built in Australia where they called it the 'American' type of bascule bridge which is ironic since the type is nearly extinct in the United States today."

He doesn't fly the drone on the other side where we would have a clear view of the curved ramp.

Photography By Gregory Coraggio 5:29 drone video via HistoricBridges

The 17-span bridge is composed of 16 timber stringer spans supported on braced timber pile bents and a 31'-long cable lift bascule rolling counterweight movable span. The single-leaf movable span is a deck girder with an open steel grid deck installed in 1962. A cable attached to each side of the toe end of the movable leaf passes over a single-track sheave atop the braced timber tower columns with braced curved tracks on the side opposite the movable leaf. The opposite end of the cable is attached to a connecting hanger that joins the shafts of the rolling counterweights positioned in series on the track. The two topmost metal counterweights have a solid center guide while the last one has disk guides. The track has built up wood end stops. The tower columns are braced with wood struts on the sides and wire rope stays on the back. The toe lock is manual. The bridge is controlled from an operators house on the upstream side. An electric motor mounted atop the upstream tower column brace engages the drive shaft to turn the sheaves which cause the counterweights to start moving down the track. The motor reverses the action to close the bridge. The operators house, like many elements of the bridge, has been upgraded over the years, but its function and profile are original.

History: Bascule span installed 1938; bridge modified in 1949-50, 1957-58, 1963, and 1971

[ArchivedBridgeHunter]

Hylebos (11th Street) (SOC) Bridges over Hylebos Creek in Tacoma, WA

Swing: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges)

1925: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)

1939: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite) closed to traffic in 2001; repaired and reopened June 1, 2012

Street View, Mar 2025

Bridges Now and Then posted
"The Hylebos Bridge (Tacoma, Washington) was still under construction in 1939 when it was hit by the steamer Point San Pablo. The span was knocked four to five feet out of alignment but bounced back all but 10 inches. No one was hurt and construction remained on schedule."  (Photo courtesy: Tacoma Public Library)

The 1925 was built by Strauss Bascule Bridge Co. [ArchivedBridgeHunter_1925]

BridgeHunter_1925
[It looks like a Strauss Overhead Counterweight Bridge (SOC).]

In 1925, a single-leaf bridge replaced a wooden drawbridge. But the Department of War declared the 84' (25.6m) horizontal clearance to be a hazard to navigation, and after some legal battle, the bridge was removed starting in Dec 1935. Funding a new bridge during the depression was a challenge, but the new one, which had a 150' [45.7m] horizontal clearance, started construction in 1937. [SouthSoundTalk]

The bridge was locked in the upright position in 2001 because a drive shaft broke. "The city could have replaced the broken part for about $50,000, says Breivik. But after examining the timber, steel, and concrete apparatus, the council members decided the bridge should either be abandoned or overhauled. In 2004 an arson fire on the east side damaged the bridge’s motors and steel. And scavengers have since made off with a lot of the machinery and metal parts for scrap." Repairs were finished in Oct 2011. [wsu]

wje
"Constructed in 1939, the Hylebos Waterway Bridge is a 217-foot [66m] long double leaf trunnion bascule bridge spanning the Hylebos Creek. The bridge was originally designed for an H15 load rating.
"A failed bascule leaf drive shaft left both bridge leafs permanently open....Three years later, the bridge sustained electrical and mechanical damage from a fire. Concerned about having too few evacuation routes in the event of an emergency, the City sought to repair and re-open the bridge. To do so, WJE was retained to assess the bridge’s current capacity and design strengthening repairs needed to achieve an HS20 load rating.

On Oct 12, 2023, a tugboat assisting an ATB allided with the bridge's already deteriorated fender system. The fender system had to be replaced with a cost of $2.43m, but the bridge evidently stayed open. [gcaptain, ProfessionalMariner]

NTSB_press_release
ATB Montlake/Sodo

NTSB_report
Olympic Scout

The bridge closed in Nov 2023 because of a "motor failure." The cost to replace the motor was $50,000. [TheNewsTribune]

The bridge closed on Jan 12, 2024, because of "cold temperatures." [CityOfTacoma]

The bridge closed Aug 21, 2024 because of "an equipment issue." [nwseaportalliance]

tacoma
Again, because of cold weather, the bridge closed Jan 17, 2025.

The bridge closed Aug 19, 2025, because of a "technical malfunction." [TheNewsTribune]

It reopened on Aug 25, 2025. [tacoma]

Has this one bridge had more closures in a few years than Chicago's several bridges have had in a few decades? Chicago probably has colder temperatures.