I-39+90+94 Bridges over Wisconsin River near Portage, WI

(no Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

I normally don't bother noting UCEB (Ugly Concrete Eyesore Bridges), but this construction video is worth noting.

After some typical drone scenes of some tandem lifts, this scene shows how they unload a beam from a truck. The end of the beam has already been lifted off its trailer and swung over to the carriage that will take it across the temporary bridge. The right crane will unhook once that end is on the carriage, and the left crane will attach to the beam. We will see the barge tilt as it takes the weight off of the carriage. Not that 12 axles are required to carry the beam on the highways.

Facebook Reel

rasmith
The bridge replacement cost $135m.

Construction began in May 2024, and it is expected to be completed in 2027. [portagewi]

511wi
"Replacing the existing I-39/90/94 Wisconsin River bridges. One new bridge will be located to the east of the existing bridges and the other will be located at approximately the same location as the existing bridges." [Are they going from 6 lanes to 12 lanes? No. See below. The bridges will handle 8 lanes after a later project adds a fourth lane in each direction to the highway.]

A satellite image caught the temporary bridge that was used to get the beams across the river. I don't know why I can't see a second crane for the tandem lifts of the beams.

Satellite

acppubs
"Nearly a quarter of the 60,000 average daily vehicles passing through the corridor are trucks. The traffic on the bridge increases dramatically — up to 75 percent during the summer months due to tourist traffic."

This photo is old enough to catch a foundation pile drill.

acppubs
"The new bridges will be 1,760 feet long, making them slightly longer than the existing bridges. They will also be wider at 80 feet. However, the bridges will remain three lanes when the project opens. Porter noted that WisDOT has a separate future project to widen the interstate to four lanes. When that occurs, the bridge will be restriped to accommodate a fourth lane."
The riverbed has a highly variable rock profile. Some of the drilled shaft foundations went down 120' without achieving the design capacity. So they had to redesign the pier foundations. They also encountered artesian (underground water) pressure around some of the drilled shafts. That required additional foundation designs. Some of the new designs meant that they had to bring in new subcontractors and equipment.
The nearby high-tension wires added another challenge.

It looks like the old bridge used steel girders. The new one uses prestressed concrete girders.

Street View, Sep 2025

C&NW Division Street and Carpenter Street Towers

Division Street: (Satellite, the elevated foundation has been repurposed.)

Carpenter Street: (Satellite)

John Martin posted two images with the comment: "Interesting stuff I stumbled across about the two former control towers at CNW's Erie St. yard, Division St. and Carpenter St. As of March 1959 Carpenter disappeared from the CNW track chart but Division St. was still there. Anyone have a photo of either tower? Here is what I have: two pages from an article appearing in Signal Engineer Journal June 1911 and the CNW Harvard track chart showing Division St. Tower."

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Bob Lalich commented on John's post
Here are photos of the towers from a GRS publication, which I am unable to locate at the moment. Note that Carpenter St Tower was actually located on Sangamon St, but there already was a Sangamon St Tower which controlled the entrance to the Chicago St Engine Terminal and Erie St Yard.

Bob Lalich commented on John's post

John Martin posted
More on CNW Division St. and Carpenter St. towers from Signal Engineering publication showing plans. Still haven't found any photos of them yet but the search goes on.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

1913,1993 Colorado Boulevard Bridge over Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, CA

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

HAER CAL,19-PASA,11--2
2. OVERALL VIEW OF BRIDGE, LOOKING NORTH. THE PIONEER BRIDGE CAN BE SEEN BEHIND THE OLDER BRIDGE. - Colorado Street Bridge, Spanning Arroyo Seco at Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, Los Angeles County, CA

"Significance: The Colorado Street Bridge is an eleven-arched reinforced concrete structure, the longest and highest bridge of its time. It was the first high bridge across the Arroyo Seco, and is an important visual landmark in Pasadena. Through its design and construction, the bridge represents the advancing concrete technology of the twentieth century and the ornamental aesthetic of the late nineteenth century. The Colorado Street Bridge was designed by one of the nation's foremost bridge engineers, and constructed by a well known California builder. The local community played an important role In planning and funding construction." [HAER_data, my emphasis in bold]

I added the "cement" label to these notes since this bridge was a landmark concrete bridge in terms of length and height.

Street View, Oct 2014

Carlos G. Lucero posted, cropped

In the arid southwest of the United States more than anywhere else, the growth of a city was dependent upon water. Pasadena was founded where it was exactly to take advantage of a reliable water supply, the Arroyo Seco ("Dry Gulch" in English). It was a reliable source of water in a rather dry environment.

However, the Arroyo Seco was also problem, it was deep in a steep sided canyon. This meant that Pasadena was physically isolated from its western neighbors. Travelers would have to make long detours passable crossing north or south of Pasadena.

This was finally changed by James Scoville. He had been the Vice President of the Elgin Watch Co., President of the Prairie State Bank, and a trustee of what would later be known as California Institute of Technology. He built a pleasure garden on the bluff above the Arroyo Seco which went down the slope of the canyon walls to the stream itself. There he built a small dam and pump house. The top of the dam served as the eastern abutment of a wooden bridge, the first connect Pasadena to the western side of the Arroyo. Scoville Bridge was still in service when the much larger and grander Colorado Blvd. Bridge was built above it.

[David Kimbrough via ArchivedBridgeHunter]

The Arroyo Seco doesn't supply much water today. Given the channelization, today it is a stormwater drain.

Street View, Dec 2024

California Historical Society CHS-7799 via USC Digital Library via BridgeHunter
"Scoville Bridge is visible beneath."

Pasadena Orange Growers Association via BridgeHunter

Postcard via LAist via BridgeHunter

Postcard provided by Mike Ward and Joe Sonderman via BridgeHunter, they uploaded a lot of postcards.

Old Champlain Canal Lock #8 (Hewitt's)

(Satellite?)

Champlain Canal Overview

Hudson river Lightkeeper posted
Canal Favorites - Hewitt's Lock in Mechanicville on the Champlain Canal
[A comment says "it's marked on Google Maps," but every search criterion that I could think of did not find it.]

tug44
In winter 2008, we visit Old Champlain Canal Lock 8 in Halfmoon NY. This was a 9 foot lift lock built around 1862. This photo was taken from the ice over a few feet of water, caution.

Cori Willson posted
Fleet locking through Champlain Canal lock #8

I could not find the location of the lock.

1893/93 Cohoes Quad @ 62,500

1913 Goodwin Dam and 1864 Knights Ferry Covered Bridge on Stanislaus River

Dam: (Satellite)

Bridge: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; HAER; Satellite)

Goodwin Dam is a diversion dam for irrigation canals.

SmartWaterMagazine

This shows 3 of the 4 spans.

Photo by Craig Philpott via BridgeHunter

Goodwin Dam

OakdaleIrrigation

CanyonTunnelProject

MantecaBulletin
The dam is 400' (122m) high.

I followed the northern canal on a satellite map; it goes through some tunnels on its way to Woodward Reservoir.

Covered Bridge

"Significance: The Knight's Ferry Bridge was built in 1863-64 to replace an 1857 uncovered wooden truss that was destroyed in a flood. This was an important crossing on the heavily traveled Stockton-Sonora Road during the California Gold Rush. The Knight's Ferry Bridge is the longest covered bridge west of the Mississippi River." [HAER_data, my bold text emphasis.]

HAER CA-314-19 (CT)
WEST FACE LOOKING EAST - Knight's Ferry Bridge, Spanning Stanislaus River, bypassed section of Stockton-Sonora Road, Knights Ferry, Stanislaus County, CA

The span over the normally wet part is longer.

Photo by Craig Philpott via BridgeHunter

Photo by Craig Philpott via BridgeHunter

HAER CA-314-8
INTERIOR FROM SOUTHEAST PORTAL - Knight's Ferry Bridge, Spanning Stanislaus River, bypassed section of Stockton-Sonora Road, Knights Ferry, Stanislaus County, CA

The Stanislaus River between Goodwin Dam and Knights Ferry, the Godwin Canyon, is considered good whitewater.

AmericanWhitewater

Collapsed James Street Bridge over Oswego Blvd in Syracuse, NY

(Satellite, Oswego Blvd. covered up the canal, and then I-690 covered up Oswego Blvd.)

Erie Canal Overview

Matt Korona posted
James Street Bridge collapse over the Oswego Canal in Syracuse

cnyhistory
"On April 6th, 1901 the James Street Bridge over the Oswego Canal collapsed. A trolley car carrying around 40 people was crossing the bridge at the time and fell front first into the mud and debris. Fortunately, the water in the canal had been emptied a week earlier, presumably for repairs. Thirty-seven people were injured, some seriously, but remarkably no one was killed."

1924 US-66 Lake Overhosere Iron Bridge over North Canadian River at Bethany, OK

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

US-66 Overview

Street View, May 2025

Tony Gaeddert, Oct 2022

Terri, Apr 2022

John Albert Christeson Jr. posted three photos with the comment: "Lake Overholser Iron Bridge on Historic US 66.........Bethany Ok"

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