Henry Street Bridge over White River and Former GM Plant in Indianapolis, IN

(Satellite, the bridge is too new to show up on a satellite image. A Google Earth image below shows it.)

This was General Motors. There is not a street view that is recent enough to show Elanco Animal Health.

Street View, Jul 2011

Facebook Reel
[They talk about a bunch of collaboration spaces. Do they have quiet spaces so that one could get some work done? Or now days, does one just stay home to do quiet work?]

Google Earth, Aug 2012

Google Earth, Aug 2026

2 of 7 photos posted by Bridges & Tunnels by Sherman Cahal with the comment:

The Henry Street Bridge will carry automobiles, pedestrians, and cyclists across the White River between downtown Indianapolis and the White River Innovation District taking shape on the west bank. A concrete beam structure marked by the rings arcing above its deck, it is funded in part by the Lilly Endowment and anchors a larger investment in the west side of the city, including the new headquarters for Elanco. The district it serves is being built on ground that once held a General Motors factory. These photographs were made in July 2026, with the bridge near completion.

🧭 More photographs and the full history are available through the link in the comments. A visit helps support Bridges & Tunnels's ongoing work documenting these places through research, photography, and preservation-focused storytelling.

https://bridgestunnels.com/location/henry-street-bridge/

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BridgeTunnels
"In 2020, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation proposed the White River Innovation District as a mixed-use redevelopment of the former General Motors stamping plant site in Indianapolis. The District was later renamed LEVEE."

1878-2001 NS/Sou/CNO&TP/CS Saluda Grade

CNO&TP = Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific

dncr
"The three-mile-long grade that crests at Saluda is the steepest mainline, standard-gauge stretch of track in the nation. It rises an average of 4.7 feet for every 100 feet in length....Construction on the Saluda line in the 1870s marked the first use of convict labor on such a large scale....The goal was to provide a rail connection for Asheville with Spartanburg, South Carolina, and points to the south, one to complement the routes to Salisbury in the east, Murphy to the west, and Knoxville, Tennessee, to the north. By 2000 the tracks had been abandoned with traffic shifted to other routes."
[Location of marker]

Southern Railway Historical Association posted via Dennis DeBruler

Hot brakes! That’s what the cloud of smoke emanating from underneath the boxcar tells us. But that’s just a common side effect of descending a grade as steep as Saluda, which peaked at around 5%, much steeper than railroads generally prefer.

The brakeman is likely out of view inspecting the train as it passed, checking for hotboxes, sliding wheels, and dragging equipment, a common problem on a long and heavy grade like this. If any defects were found in this train inspection, the train would be stopping once it cleared the grade here in Melrose, which would allow for these to be addressed. Then, the retaining valves and brakes would be reset and the train would continue its journey toward Spartanburg.

Saluda grade, which was the steepest mainline grade in the US, was notorious for being difficult to control and was occasionally the site of runaway trains. In accordance with the special train handling rules for the grade at the time, all trains coming from Asheville would be descending the grade and would have stopped at the Stop Board at the top of the grade in the town of Saluda and had the retaining valves turned up and the brake pipes set to 100psi before departing down the grade. As soon as the train was rolling, the engineer was to set and release a 10psi brake application so that the retaining valves would retain the application in the brake cylinders, keeping the brake shoes against the wheels, but letting the brake pipe recharge. The engineer would then maintain a speed of 5-8 miles an hour descending the grade.

Richard Baldwin photo.

Looking at this map, I thought the grade was the three miles on the west side of Saluda.

1960/60 Knoxville Quad @ 250,000

But then I noticed that the two Runaway Track labels and the Sand Cut label are on the east side of Saluda. Note the road closures on US-176. All of the popups say "Closed until 2028." Have these segments have been closed since Hurricane Helene struck the area in Sep 2024?

Satellite

The runaway track would be the one that goes straight.

Drayton Blackgrove, Oct 2021, Runaway Track 1

The turnout would have to be on the side of a hill so that the mainline can continue to go down the grade but the runaway track can go uphill.

Andrew Raila ‘Bammers!, Dec 2024, Runaway Track 2

This shows the whole segment that NS abandoned and that is being turned into a trail.

safe_image for Norfolk Southern files for abandonment of Saluda Grade
"Idle since 2001, the former Southern Railway route was once the steepest mainline grade in America, with a 4.7% incline including a brief stretch at 5.1%."
Randall Hampton shared
They're just now doing the abandonment paperwork?  The trail conversion was funded a couple of years ago, at least.  I don't know why everything is moving so slow.

The 31.5 mile [51km] trail is evidently still in the planning stages. [SaudaGradeTrail]

Trail Suspension Bridge over Animas River in Durango, CO

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

teofilo Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

Joshua Davison, Jun 2022

Cora Hudson, Aug 2025

You can't see any of the above rocks during the Oct 23, 2026, flood. Although some rocks are creating some "lumps" in the water.

Robert Holmes posted three photos with the comment: "🌊🌊Animas at the Swinging Bridge! It is running at 7700 cfs at 530am. Level 7.17. Just below flood stage. Flood stage predicted at approximately noon today. There will be another foot of river rise!"

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[It looks like the water is up over the trail.]

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This book store is next to the bridge. When you play the video it is obvious that we are looking upstream.

White Rabbit Books & Curiosities posted

We’ve been closed for the past couple of days, waiting for this storm to wear itself out, and will remain closed likely through Sunday, as we get everything resituated and put the shop back to rights.

The Animas River is reminding us just how feisty she can be, leaping past 10,000 CFS, up from the sad little trickle she was just a couple weeks ago- the majority of that in the last two days. She’s made her way up onto the trail by the next building north of us, and is lapping at the concrete near us, too, but so far, so good for the bookshop.Oh, the humbling power of fast-moving water! It’s a great reminder that Mother Nature is very much calling the shots, and we’re all just along for the ride.

A million thanks to the three fine gents who helped me batten down the hatches and who have been keeping watch over the place while (being the commuter that I am,) I can only keep an eye on things from afar. You guys are the best.

So, hooray for some much-needed moisture, a deep bow to the mighty Animas, and a gentle reminder that impermanence is the way of things. Sometimes the best we can do is prepare, let go, and ride out the storm.

We’ll be back before long, with books to browse, curiosities to discover, and plenty of stories waiting to be found.

Until then, stay safe, stay dry, and stay in utter awe of it all, friends. We'll be back soon!

1902,2009 High Banks Bridge over White River near Yorktown, IN

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

Street View, Jun 2025

It is pin connected.

HistoricBridges
"This classic Camelback through truss bridge has been rehabilitated for continued vehicular use."
The 200' (61m) long span is 15' (4.6m) wide.

The rehabilitated bridge has a weight limit of 13 ton. [BridgeHunter]

2008 photo by Leah in comments of ArchivedBridgeHunter
"This bridge is being torn down. What a shame, truly."

Jan 2, 2009 comment by Anthony Dillon in ArchivedBridgeHunter:

GOOD NEWS.........

This bridge is being disassembled-not for storage or relocation, but it is to be restored and reassembled in place.

Ohio has been doing that with some of their spans, but this might just be a first in Indiana (for a steel truss bridge).

Anthony provided several photos in the comments of the assembly of the bridge. The truss was reassembled on land. The wooden deck was added after the truss was lifted over the river. The original cut stone abutments were reused.

2009 photo by Anthony Dillon via BridgeHunter

Photo by John Key via BridgeHunter

One advantage of the truss being assembled on land is that it is easier to get detail shots of the outside of the truss.

May 2009 photo by Anthony Dillon via BridgeHunter

1886+1902 E&LS/Milwaukee Kingsford Bridge over Menominee River

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

E&LW = Escanaba & Lake Superior

2012 photo by Nathan Holth via HistoricBridges

It is obvious that this is a three-hinged arch because the hinge at the crown is so explicit. 

Mark Boettcher, Nov 2025

Aerial view of bridge, September 10, 2020. Photo Credit: Doug Heim, Angelcopter, LLC via HistoricBridges

David Schauer posted
Our last shot from Monday's chase was our best, and a good way to end our long weekend in the Upper Peninsula. E&LS 400/600 crossing the Menominee River south of Iron Mountain with 35 cars of scrap from Alter Metal Recycling, which is located out of the frame to the left. Our long trip back to Duluth was made easier by listening to the Brewers beat the Dodgers. Kingsford, MI - October 12, 2026 Note: drone flight in restricted airspace was approved using LAANC.

Scott Best: Awesome! What's near by that area that makes the air space restricted!?

David Schauer: Scott Best Iron Mountain airport.

HistoricBridges
"The Historic American Engineering Record reported that the bridge is probably the second bridge at this location, since the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad reached Iron Mountain in 1886. A period article about the bridge stated that the previous bridge was a Pratt deck truss with a 225 foot span. A historical photo of the arch bridge under construction appears to show the previous bridge in the background as a double intersection Pratt (Whipple) deck truss."

1906-2011 22 1/2 Mile Road Bridge over St. Joseph river near Clarendon, MI

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

I noticed that this 1910's bridge used riveted gusset plates rather than pin connections. Historic Bridges confirms that this would be an early example of riveted connections.

HistoricBridges
"This bridge was built by the Elkhart Bridge and Iron Company of Elkhart, Indiana, one of many medium-sized metal truss bridge companies in the Midwest during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."
"Most through truss bridges that have this general appearance, with a traditional trapezoidal design and fairly lightweight members, have pinned connections, but this bridge has riveted connections instead."

Jennifer Woodman posted 13 photos with the comment: "The 22 1/2 Mile Road Bridge near Clarendon in Calhoun County, MI was built in 1906 by the Elkhart Bridge and Iron Company and is historically significant as the last remaining truss bridge in Michigan associated with them. The bridge is a six panel rivet-connected Pratt through truss with a wood deck. It was closed to traffic by 2011.— in Clarendon, Michigan."

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2026 Ozinga Low-Carbon Slag Cement Mill in East Chicago, IN

(Satellite? I looked at a half-dozen web pages, but I could not find the location in East Chicago. It is too new to show up in a satellite image in Oct 2026.)

Ozinga posted

We have officially cut the ribbon on our new slag cement mill in East Chicago, Indiana! This is a proud milestone for our team, for Midwest construction, and for every project team working to reduce embodied carbon without giving up performance.

Slag is produced during steelmaking. Instead of letting it go to waste, we recycle it into high-performance slag cement. At full capacity, the mill will produce one million tons of slag cement every year.

The mill is projected to offset more than 700,000 metric tons of CO₂ annually, the equivalent of taking more than 150,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road for a year. Our CarbonSense blends deliver up to 80% less embodied carbon than traditional Portland cement mixes, and all products meet ASTM C989 and ASTM C1157 performance standards, giving designers and specifiers a compliant path to lower-carbon concrete. 

Supply constraints have led to allocations, delays, and price swings for Portland cement in recent years. Direct rail, water, and highway access lets us move material reliably across the Midwest and beyond. One barge carries the equivalent of 75 semi-trucks, which also lowers the total embodied carbon of every ton we ship.

"We built this mill in the heart of the Midwest because we believe it is central to producing high-performing, American-made materials that will be the foundation of U.S. infrastructure for years to come. We are taking the cement-to-concrete process from start to finish, with American ownership at every step of the domestic supply chain, with homegrown scientific innovation, and with American workers all the way." - Marty Ozinga 

We're grateful to Gov. Mike Braun, U.S. Sen. Todd Young, U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland, the East Chicago City Council, Morrison Construction, and many other partners and vendors, for helping bring this vision to life.

Clarence Deckinga: Y didn’t they use slag years ago for cement has the slag changed recently.

Ima Psuedonym: Clarence Deckinga Slag has been around for decades. We started blending it with Portland cement back in the early 90’s when Cement companies started using waste products as fuel for the kilns. The waste fuel adversely affected the strength gain of the Portland. Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag has a high percentage of calcium silicates to interact with the Portland’s high percentage of calcium aluminates, resulting in better concrete.

Ozinga
North America’s Largest Low-Carbon Cement Mill

At the heart of the facility is the MVR5300-C6 vertical roller mill from Gebr. Pfeiffer, the largest of its kind in North America. With six independent rollers and unmatched throughput capacity, the mill maximizes energy efficiency while minimizing carbon emissions.

“This isn’t just a plant—it’s a technological milestone,” said Timothy Burden, President of Gebr. Pfeiffer Americas. “The MVR5300-C6 sets a new benchmark for sustainable cement production.”

The facility will produce ASTM C989-compliant low-carbon slag cement, as well as proprietary blends under Ozinga’s CarbonSense™ brand, meeting ASTM C1157 performance standards and delivering up to 80% reductions in embodied carbon. Once fully operational, the plant is projected to offset more than 700,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually, a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of U.S. construction.

Ozinga’s leadership in sustainable building materials has been strengthened by partnerships with Meta, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and other industry leaders. These collaborations have yielded AI-optimized low-carbon concrete, used in Meta’s DeKalb, IL data center, and enabled a 64% reduction in embodied carbon at the award-winning Amazon Web Services New Carlisle, IN data center, setting a new industry benchmark.

As of the Oct 2026 ribbon cutting, Ozinga's location map doesn't mark the location.

Ozinga_locations

The plant is served by the IHB.

RailwayAge
"IHB (map above) encircles Chicago, extending from near O’Hare to Northwest Indiana, and roughly parallels Interstate 294 (Tri-State Expressway) and I-80/94. Our diverse business portfolio encompasses steel, automotive, and oil-related commodities. It also extends eastward for 16 miles on trackage rights to access Burns Harbor and Portage, Ind., including Indiana’s International Port. (Courtesy of IHB)"