CN/IC 1902 Bridges over Big Muddy River north of Carbondale, IL

(1902 Bridge Hunter, 1886 Bridge Hunter, no Historic Bridges, Satellite (3D doesn't work))

There are more concrete arch bridges in Illinois than I realized. Especially on the Illinois Central. We have already seen a big one in Kankakee.

Someone said Southern Illinois got 12 inches of rain 4/28/17. Other reports I have seen are 4-8 inches. Nonetheless, the rain that has pounded Missouri and Arkansas (e.g. Pocahontas, AR) has also dumped a lot of rain on Southern Illinois. The Big Muddy is still rising and is expected to crest May 13.

Paul Turner shared The Southern Illinoisan's photo.
An Amtrak train crosses the trestle over the Big Muddy River north of Carbondale on Wednesday. Photo by Richard Sitler.
[This is why the bridges are built with open spandrels --- to allow more room for the water to flow under the bridge.]

Mitchell Schultheis commented on the above share
This is the normal level of the river, I took this pphoto about a month ago.

US-51 is just west of the railroad bridge and the Google street view car went northbound so it was in the close lane giving us some nice views of the bridge.

Street View

Street View

Carmen Jones commented on the original posting
This is same spot 2011.

Dave Durham posted
Illinois Central, Big Muddy bridge, 1909.

Steven Kent posted two photos with the comment: "My favorite bridge under construction circa 1902. IC crossing the Big Muddy River north of Carbondale."

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Mary Rae McPherson posted two photos with the comment:

Takin' the dog for a walk...
Amtrak P30CH (a.k.a. a Pooch) approaches its final stop of Carbondale, Illinois, with southbound #391, The Shawnee.

Eric Bateman Breaking in the first super liners when they first came out.

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Since the previous bridge was a through deck truss, they were able to build the main arches while trains used the old bridge.

eBook from Bridge Hunter, published before 1923

Update: Two of the photos posted by Mary Rae McPherson caught the river level at an intermediate height. Her comment:

Here are some photos taken at Carbondale, Ullin and DuQuoin, Illinois, by George Redmond on April 29, 1979.
I bought George's negative some months back, and I'll likely be scanning photos for years to come.

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Mary Rae McPherson posted
Southbound 391 crossing the Big Muddy River behind P30ch #718 on February 17, 1980

Arvid Noreen posted
This is the IC bridge over the Big Muddy river a few miles north of Carbondale, Illinois. During the Civil War, Lincoln had a detachment of soldiers (next to the original bridge) with a canon at this site. Southern Illinois was a hotbed of Southern sympathies and didn't want to take any chances.