Monday, March 18, 2024

1815,1911,2024+1932,2008+1980s I-68/US-40 Bridges over Casselman River near Grantsville, MD

1815: (Archived Bridge Hunter broken link; Historic Bridges; HAERSatellite, 80 photos)
Dennis Eyler commented on the following post
Here's a similar example in the US which has 3 generations of Federal highway bridges over the Casselman River in Western Maryland, covering 200 years.

Highway Engineering Discoveries posted
Three Different Period Bridges Seen Together
Percy Kotwal: Where’s this to be seen?
Michal Němeček: Percy Kotwal Xiangxi, China
Dennis DeBruler: Michal Němeček I looked at the main river in this city, but I did not find them.
https://www.google.com/maps/@28.3141504,109.7380404,3060m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

Dennis Eyler commented on his comment8
Here's a view of the Casselman River Bridge built in 2015 [1815]. It is closed to vehicular traffic now.
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Robert Aberegg, Oct 2023

dnr
It is closed pending planed repairs in 2024.

Daria Poff, Feb 2019, cropped
"It is one of the oldest surviving bridges in the nation."

Darla Poff, Feb 2018, cropped

Shirley Winget-Penrod, Jan 2019

Erick Michaels, Oct 2018, cropped

Looking from the 1815 bridge to the 1932 bridge with a semi-truck trailer peaking through the truss from the 1980s bridge.
Shirley Winget-Penrod, Jan 2019
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1932


Note the 1815 bridge in the background.
Street View, Aug 2022

The truss is skewed.
Street View, Jul 2023

The trusses look modern because there are very few built-up members. As HistoricBridges points out, the sway braces use V-lacing and the bottom of the compression chords use lattice.
Street View, Jul 2023
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1980s


I found a big enough gap in the trees to confirm that the interstate bridge is a steel-girder bridge.
Street View, Jul 2023

The only other street view was back in 2008. Those old views make you appreciate how much the street view cameras have improved. Like another photo of these bridges, this view is a reminder that interstate roads attract billboards.
Street View, Oct 2008

Sunday, March 17, 2024

1962 420mw Hartwell Dam on Savannah River near Hartwell Ga

(Satellite, 156 photos)

Street View, Jun 2023

USACE

The concrete section is 1,900' (579m) long, and the earth part is 17,852' (5,441m, 3.4 miles) long. The top of the dam is 204' (31.7m) above the Savannah Riverbed. "The penstocks are 214 ft. [65m] long, made of boilerplate steel, and are 24 ft. [7.3m] in diameter. Water flows through the penstocks at a rate of 2 – 3 million gallons per minute." [USACE_facts]
1 cubic foot = 7.48 gallons [USACE_conversion
2 million gallons per minute = 33,333 gallons per sec = 4,456cfs
 
USACE Facebook
Aerial footage of our Hartwell Dam spillway test from our friends at the Anderson County Sheriff's Office - Emergency Management SC.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division I U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters
Andy Michel shared
Really awesome Spillway Tainter Gate video!!!
 
IndependentMail

The lake is already (Mar 2024) above summer level, so the lake will not be significantly impacted by the test release. [fox5vegas, near the end]

Four of the 10 photos from their photo gallery:
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b

c

d


Saturday, March 16, 2024

1916 (CSX+Aban)/L&N Bridges over Kentucky River and Tunnels near Ford, KY

(Archived Bridge Hunter CSX; Archived Bridge Hunter Abandoned; no Historic Bridges; B&TSatellite)

Austin Hall posted
2 presumably former L&N bridges over the Kentucky river in Clark county Kentucky
Looking to see if I can get some more info I’m on these two
I believe one or both are referred to as the ford railroad bridge.
Colton Lewis: The top one is an active CSX line that runs to Richmond Ky. I work for Clark county sheriffs office. Had to chase a guy across it once, most terrifying foot chase of my career.
The bottom one is abandoned. They both go to tunnels that are on the Madison county side of the river.
[The top bridge in this photo is the southern bridge.]
Joshua Denham: Rj Corman line.
Brian Scott Phelps: Joshua Denham Corman may use it from time to time but it is a CSX active bridge. East Ky power has a power plant on the river bank. My father in law looked into getting rail service for the plant but CSX would not give them a contract unless they would accept 100 cars at one time. The plant does not have the room for that number of cars.
David Morse: Joshua Denham CSX line. Corman has trackage rights for the aluminum train.

The second bridge was used when the route was double tracked.
1952 Ford Quad @ 24,000

B&T
The 544' (166m) long bridge and tunnels were built in 1916. The second track was abandoned when CTC was introduced in the late 1980s.

Jeff Shroyer Apr 2019 via Bridge Hunter_aban

Milwaukee and C&NW Tunnels near Tunnel City, WI

Milwaukee: (Satellite)
C&NW: (Satellite)

Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted
We think that this photo shows work being done on the approach to the tunnel to be dug for a C&NW right of way at Tunnel City, Wisconsin. Eventually that tunnel was damaged and the C&NW was allowed by the Milwaukee Road to use their nearby tunnel. Interesting narrow gauge work train!
Scott Janz: At this time, contractors are doing the work for the RR’s. The Adams line was mostly built to double track standards, including the tunnel at Tunnel City, WI. This view shows work on the west side.

1949 Millston Quad @ 62,500

UP now joins the CP route just west of Tunnel City. And it shares that route all the way to La Crosse, WI.
Satellite



Friday, March 15, 2024

1905,1954 Wayne Six/Newell Toll Bridge over Ohio River at East Liverpool, OH

(Archived Historic Bridges; Historic Bridges; Satellite, 54 photos)

The bridge is 1,590' (485m) long and has a clearance of 160' (49m). [BusinessJournalDaily]
The main span is 743' (226m). "The bridge has been noted as one of the first suspension bridges to have been built entirely of steel as opposed to wrought iron. This is not the result of anything spectacular, it is merely a function of its 1905 construction date. Prior to 1900 wrought iron was widely used for metal highway bridges because it was less expensive. During that time steel was also produced but was used for railroad rails where the stronger steel was a requirement, and this drove up the prices of steel, while wrought iron remained affordable. However, after 1900, steel became readily  available and wrought iron quickly became a thing of the past." [HistoricBridges]

I'm reminded that there are a lot of trees in the eastern US. But this view is good enough to determine that it is a suspension bridge.
Street View, Sep 2022

Since a tree is dead, we can almost see the far tower as well as the close one. There were no views taken during the Winter when the leaves would be off all of the trees.
Street View, Oct 2022

This is the first suspension bridge I remember seeing where the deck truss has a variable depth.
Kaller C, Aug 2021

The towers have enough character that they are worth emphasizing.
Kaller C, Aug 2021

Historic Bridges

I learned of this bridge because it was mentioned as a "limited detour" when the Chester Bridge closed for about a month on Dec 11, 2023. The official detour for the Chester Bridge outage was all the way south to the Veterans Memorial Bridge at Weirton, WV. The clearance, weight limit and speed are reasons why it is limited. Looking at a map, another reason is that side streets would have to be used to get to the bridge from US-30. Complaints by local officials that the bridge outage impacts first response units is valid. Fire trucks would not be able to cross this bridge. (The local officials learned how to cooperate and help each other during the outage.)
Street View, Oct 2013

Because the Chester Bridge carried 10,000 vehicles a day, the load on this bridge tripled after the outage. "Frank Six, owner of the Newell Bridge and Railway Company, had requested the precautionary inspection although it had passed one in October to determine if its 10-ton weight limit was still appropriate as the bridge now is getting fully loaded with cars on both sides." The inspectors found no problems. [MorningJournalNews]

Hopefully some state DOT's will recognize that this bridge is proof that if a bridge is well maintained, it will easily last over 100 years. (118 years and counting) 
BusinessJournalDaily
"Wayne Six cuts the ribbon, officially changing the name of the Newell Bridge as his nephew, Frank Six, and other family members look on."
 It was renamed The Wayne Six Toll Bridge on July 4, 2023, to honor the man who has maintained it for the last 56 years. His nephew, Frank Six, bought the bridge and now maintains it. Frank was the one that decided to change the name to honor Wayne.

"The bridge's stiffening trusses have two styles of sway bracing that changes from every other panel. One is v-laced design whose height tapers at each end, and the other is made of two lightweight beams that also has attractive curved knee bracing curling above and below the lower beams, and below the upper beam. The merger of the upper beam's knee bracing and the upper knee brace of the lower sway bracing beam create a half-circle appearance. There is also a couple spots where there is a third built-up box beam acting as sway bracing." [HistoricBridges]
Street View, Aug 2019

Chris Lawrence commented on a post: "This bridge was built by the Homer Laughlin China Company of what would become Newel WV and at one time was the largest china factory in the world. The bridge still stands and is now owned by the Six Family who have done the maintenance on it for years before owning it. Homer Laughlin is also still in business as the maker of Fiesta Ware China."


Thursday, March 14, 2024

1896-1969+1977 US-30 Chester (WV) Bridge over Ohio River at East Liverpool, OH

(Bridge Hunter broke Mar 22; 2023; B&TSatellite) Jennings Randolph Bridge

"The Jennings Randolph Bridge was constructed after the Chester Bridge was closed down on May 14, 1969." The original cost was estimated as $14m. In the end, it cost $47m, and the end was not until 1977. "It is the largest truss bridge in North America." [LaurelHollowPark]

Street View, Oct 2022

Street View, Oct 2022

Street View, Aug 2019

I noticed this dredging operation while I was looking for street views of the bridge.
Street View, Oct 2022

I dug deeper into the claim in some of the sources that it is "the largest truss bridge in North America" I had noticed that the truss looked long, but I have been unable to find a reference that provides a length. (I miss Bridge Hunter) By "largest," I assume they mean longest. Using Google Maps, I estimate the length is about 220m (722'). (The scale on my Google maps changed from feet to meters, but I don't know why.) If it is the longest, then it is longer by just a few feet because the main span of the P&I Bridge is 720'. 


The tri-state area not having a major bridge for 8.5 years was good practice for an outage of this bridge from Dec 11, 2023 to Jan 8, 2024. "The bridge was closed on Dec. 11 after a federally mandated inspection discovered cracking in two welds on the steel bridge structure. The cracks were not visible to the naked eye, but the WVDOH, in an abundance of caution, decided to close the bridge while repairs were completed." [wtov9] This appears to be another example of "abundance of caution" being an admission by those in charge of risk decisions that they don't know how to do their job.

"The Jennings Randolph Bridge was built in 1977 using T-1 steel. At the time, welded T-1 steel was common in bridge construction, but it was later discovered that cracks could develop in the welds joining the beams. Special testing on bridges made with T-1 steel has since been conducted on bridges all over the United States. It was during one of those tests that a few cracks were identified in welds on the Jennings Randolph Bridge. Bridge inspection consultant Modjeski & Masters identified 18 additional internal defects on welds on the bridge which have since been repaired." [TheIntelligencer]

"Similar [T-1 Steel] issues led to the closure of the Interstate 64 Sherman Minton Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2011 and the Interstate 40 Hernando de Soto Bridge in Memphis in 2021." [wvnews]

There are five bridges in WV made with T-1 steel, and this is the only one that required closure after an inspection. [WVDOT]

"Bridge inspection consultant Modjeski & Masters identified 18 additional internal defects on welds on the bridge that needed to be repaired before reopening the bridge. Those defects on the bridge have since been repaired." [WV_reopen]

WV crews cut holes in the bridge beams to allow the "contractors inside to inspect the welds from the inside out....Welding codes were amended in the 1990s, and all T-1 steel was required to pass inspection before leaving the factory." This article explains the "dogbone repair" that stops the spread of a crack. Some cracks used that repair while others drilled out the bad portions of the welds. [WV_repairs]

This is the bridge that took 8.5 years to replace:
Bridges & Tunnels
[It sounds like it was a good thing that the Silver Bridge collapse caused bridges to be inspected. The inspection found enough hidden problems such as broken wires and corrosion to cause the bridge to be closed.]

Bridges Now and Then posted
"The Chester Bridge under construction in 1896 from the East Liverpool side of the Ohio River looking toward the soon-to-be town of Chester, West Virginia. The ferry boat Ollie Neville was forced out of operation once the bridge was completed." (East Liverpool Historical Society)

1 of many photos of the 1896 bridge in LourelHollowPark_chester
"Chester Bridge with C.C. Thompson Pottery of East Liverpool, Ohio in the background.
Picture was taken in the early part of the 20th Century when flooding on the Ohio River was common."

The abutment on the WV side of the 1896 bridge has been preserved as a river overlook.
Street View, Nov 2021

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

1891 Aetnaville Bridge over Ohio River Back Channel at Wheeling Island, WV

(Bridge Hunter broke Mar 22, 2023; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

This photo allowed me to confirm that it is a pin-connected truss.
C Hanchey Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 
Aetnaville Bridge
Historic Aetnaville Bridge over the Ohio River back channel at Wheeling Island, West Virginia. The 1891 bridge is a three-span pin-connected Pennsylvania through truss and was closed in 1988. The bridge is also known as the Georgia Street Bridge.
The Aetnaville Bridge is listed as a contributing resource to the National Register of Historic Places Wheeling Island Historic District (listing #92000320).

3D Satellite

Bridges & Tunnels posted four photos with the comment:
The Aetnaville Bridge, an abandoned yet emblematic structure that connects the former village of Aetnaville in Bridgeport, Ohio, with Wheeling Island in Wheeling, West Virginia, is scheduled for demolition. Built between 1890 and 1891 by the Youngstown Bridge Company using components from the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, this bridge features seven Pennsylvania through trusses connected by pins and supported by sandstone piers. Originally used as a conduit for the Wheeling Railway Company’s interurbans between Wheeling and Bridgeport, and extending to other cities in West Virginia and Ohio, the bridge was repurposed for automobile use in 1937 after streetcar operations ceased. Toll collection stopped in 1953, and the bridge was permanently closed to automobiles in December 1988.
The West Virginia Department of Highways has set July 28, 2025, as the start date for demolishing the Aetnaville Bridge’s superstructure, with an estimated cost of $2.5 million. This decision was made after years of concern over the bridge’s condition, including a detailed inspection in October 2015 that led to its closure to pedestrian traffic in early 2016 due to structural issues.
🔖 More on the Aetnaville Bridge: http://bridgestunnels.com/location/aetnaville-bridge/
Bridges & Tunnels shared with the comment:
The Aetnaville Bridge, an abandoned yet emblematic structure that connects the former village of Aetnaville in Bridgeport, Ohio, with Wheeling Island in Wheeling, West Virginia, is scheduled for demolition. More on its history: http://bridgestunnels.com/location/aetnaville-bridge/
Built between 1890 and 1891 by the Youngstown Bridge Company using components from the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, this bridge features seven Pennsylvania through trusses connected by pins and supported by sandstone piers. Originally used as a conduit for the Wheeling Railway Company’s interurbans between Wheeling and Bridgeport, and extending to other cities in West Virginia and Ohio, the bridge was repurposed for automobile use in 1937 after streetcar operations ceased. Toll collection stopped in 1953, and the bridge was permanently closed to automobiles in December 1988.
The West Virginia Department of Highways has set July 28, 2025, as the start date for demolishing the Aetnaville Bridge’s superstructure, with an estimated cost of $2.5 million. This decision was made after years of concern over the bridge’s condition, including a detailed inspection in October 2015 that led to its closure to pedestrian traffic in early 2016 due to structural issues.
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