The CB&Q and NC&StL created the Paducah and Illinois Railroad to construct the bridge to connect their railroads. The United States Railroad Administration forced the IC to move its trains from its ferry service to this bridge in 1918.
This bridge was designed by Ralph Modjeski (later Modjeski and Masters). [HistoricBridges]
Note that the far (Kentucky side) span is longer. At the time, it was a record long 720' simple span. The other four spans are "just" 551'.
David Cantrell posted three images with the comment: "The Paducah and Illinois railroad constructed the Metropolis, IL Ohio River railway bridge. The 750 foot span is shown below in 1917 from the Railway Journal. There were two other 550 foot spans and one of 300 foot. The piers are 75 feet below the river bed. It recently passed its 100th anniversary. Also included is a 1937 flood aerial photo and one from 2017."
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Because I could not include all of the right-most span with the lens cranked all the way down to 18mm in the above photo, I got a closeup of the north (Illinois) span.
sternwheel-part4 has a couple of photos of the bridge. That page also has seven facts including: "At 708 feet the bridge contains the longest pin-connected simple through truss span in the world."
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| Birds-Eye View |
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| David Honan |
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| David Honan |
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| David Cantrell posted, cropped
Metropolis Aerial View 1937 Flood
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| Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted The Paducah & Illinois Railroad bridge across the Ohio River, as seen from the caboose of the Rosiclare Local. The bridge was built to accomodate two mainline tracks, but only one was ever laid. Circa 1959. Photographer unknown, Cliff Downey coll. |
David Cantrell posted three images with the comment: "The Paducah and Illinois railroad constructed the Metropolis, IL Ohio River railway bridge. The 750 foot span is shown below in 1917 from the Railway Journal. There were two other 550 foot spans and one of 300 foot. The piers are 75 feet below the river bed. It recently passed its 100th anniversary. Also included is a 1937 flood aerial photo and one from 2017."
James Morrissey: Did not like going over that bridge. Creeped me out.
Eddie Bauer: James Morrissey or the next 5 south on that Bluford district lol
Eddie Bauer: Those piers are not attached to the bedrock either. 10mph speed restriction. And look down as you power over the super structure and the red mud that pumps / comes up as the pressure of the locomotives actually move the piers vertically
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| Jim Pearson Photography posted The American Duchess passing under CN U72481-05 at West Paducah, KY The American Duchess, a river cruise paddle-wheeler owned and operated by American Queen Steamboat Company passes under southbound Canadian National U72481-05 on the bridge over the Ohio River between Metropolis, IL and West Paducah, KY. U72481-05 is carrying a load of Iron ore from Keenan, MN to Convent, LA on the CN Bluford Subdivision. According to Wikipedia: The American Duchess is a river cruise paddle-wheeler owned and operated by American Queen Steamboat Company (AQSC). It is the third addition to their fleet and is advertised as being the most luxurious option of the line's vessels. The riverboat's itineraries include routes on the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, and Illinois Rivers. Before it was American Duchess, this vessel was originally designed and built for Isle of Capri Casinos as a casino boat named Bettendorf Capri. After going land-based, Isle of Capri sold the paddle-wheeler to AQSC in 2016. On October 16, 2016, Bettendorf locals gathered on the levee to give their farewell to the 21-year-old casino boat and watched her pull off the riverbank to sail south to undergo her reconstruction. Contracted to Bollinger Shipyards in Morgan City, Louisiana, the vessel would be gutted, remodeled, and relaunched as a river cruise liner the following year. The conversion from a casino boat to an overnight passenger vessel involved the removal of over 1,000 slot machine bases and 1,200 steel chairs, the construction of new dividing walls to form 83 passenger cabins, the addition of a crew hold, a completely new interior layout and design, modifications to propulsion and a new exterior paint job. Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/240, ISO 100. |
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| Jim Pearson Photography posted CN U72481-05 shadow move at West Paducah, KY Canadian National U72481-05 heads southbound over the Ohio River bridge between Metropolis, IL and West Paducah, KY carrying a load of Iron ore from Keenan, MN to Convent, LA on the CN Bluford Subdivision as it and the bridge cast long and deep shadows on the waters below on May 7th, 2021. According to Wikipedia: The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota. First described in 1866, it is the chief iron ore mining district in the United States. The district is located largely in Itasca and Saint Louis counties. It has been extensively worked since 1892 and has seen a transition from high-grade direct shipping ores through gravity concentrates to the current industry exclusively producing iron ore (taconite) pellets. There are three iron ranges in northern Minnesota, the Cuyuna, the Vermilion, and the Mesabi. Most of the world's iron ore, including that contained in northern Minnesota, was formed during the middle Precambrian period. Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 100. |
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| 20171230 9402c, east elevation taken from the I-24 Bridge (I still haven't figured out why my bridge pictures are typically so hazy.) |
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| First of nine photos in C Hanchey's Illinois Flickr Album, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC) |
I have noticed that when you take I-57 to Kentucky you pass under a BN overpass in the southern part of the state. This surprised me when I first saw it because the motto of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy was "Everywhere West." Not South. Like the Milwaukee Road, CB&Q wanted their own access to coal in the Ohio River valley. In fact, James J. Hill, who aquired control the of CB&Q in 1901 could use the coal for his other railroads --- Great Northern and Northern Pacific.
See last paragraph of IC Railroad Scrapbook.
The rivermen were allowed to specify the placement of the piers. They specified a 700' navigation span [part10] When they learned that the engineers designed a span over 700', the rivermen decided: "By having the main span 720 feet in width, a steamboat with a large tow will be able to pass under the bridge at any angle. With lights on the piers at night the span will be sufficient width to enable the pilots to judge his distance and pass under the bridge." [part12]
So, in 1904 Burlington acquired a 122 mile line from Concord, IL to Centralia, IL. In 1905 the CB&Q began pushing towards Metropolis to link up with the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad (NC&StL) in Paducah. CB&Q reached Metropolis in 1910. The Paducah & Illinois Railroad (P&I) was formed of a partnership between CB&Q and NC&StL to build a mile long bridge over the Ohio and 15 miles of track to connect the 2 Railroads. [Part 1]Burlington specified a double track bridge that would support Cooper E90 live loading. This showed significant foresight because E90 (90,000 pounds per axle (Army)) is a strong bridge by even today's standards. [Part 2, ConnDOT, WiscDOT] The trusses and approach bents support two tracks, but the approach plate girder spans currently support just one track. As I have come to expect with long train bridges, trains travel slowly over this bridge.
A complicating factor at the Metropolis site was that bedrock was approximately 230 feet below low water level. This depth prohibited founding the piers on the bedrock, instead the piers are founded on a thick quartz sand layer at approximately 75 feet below low water level. Founding the piers on a substrate that could allow them to settle over time prohibited many bridge designs. CB&Q Chose to build a Simple Truss Bridge designed and built using Silicon Steel instead of the normal High Carbon Steel and specifying an even stronger nickel steel for certain members of the bridge allowing the bridge to be made lighter. [Part 2]C Hanchey Illinois Flickr Album has nine photos starting with an overview.
See last paragraph of IC Railroad Scrapbook.
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| Lots of info in this posting's comments |
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| John Stigall commented on a posting Bridge + sunset - what could be better? |
If you have seen one of the 551' spans, you have seen them all. (Because of the driftwood, you can tell that this is a different photo of the span.)
It is hard to catch how much bigger the 720' span is from the Illinois side. This does catch the unique "stepped" design of the piers. The lower part is probably thicker to resist ice and flood waters.
Even the approach is rather massive.
Bob Kinstrey posted several photos with the comment: "Crossing the Ohio River a few miles south of I 24 at Paducah KY. Also some of the approach bridges on IL side. There is another RR bridge of the same design several miles north of I 24."
It is hard to catch how much bigger the 720' span is from the Illinois side. This does catch the unique "stepped" design of the piers. The lower part is probably thicker to resist ice and flood waters.
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| Kenneth James White posted Another giant spanning the Ohio River: The Metropolis Bridge at Cario Illinois. [The bridge is at Metropolis, not Cairo. The step in the piers make it easy to determine that the water level was higher when this photo was taken.] |
Bob Kinstrey posted several photos with the comment: "Crossing the Ohio River a few miles south of I 24 at Paducah KY. Also some of the approach bridges on IL side. There is another RR bridge of the same design several miles north of I 24."
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Ken Bailey posted 13 photos with the comment:
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I'm a comic book cartoonist as well as a railfan, and have enjoyed for years going to Metropolis (IL) for the big Superman Celebration in June. The river crossing there for the railroad line has one of the finest bridges I've ever seen -- seven spans, and an approach that must take a mile or two. Trains of several railroads share it. In addition, one of the people working the Metropolis show is a retired Illinois Central locomotive engineer/crewman, and it is always fun to hear his stories of the old days, as well!
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| Jeff Yielding posted From a few years ago, crossing from Paducah KY over to Metropolis IL. The bridge was opened in 1917! Dennis DeBruler Nice catching it with some engines on it because that demonstrates the scale of those spans. The government agreed to the steamboat industry's demand that the navigation channel be over 700' wide. They thought that length would kill the possibility of a bridge being built. But their bluff was called. At the time of construction, the main span was a record setting simple span of 720'. The others are "just" 551'. The bridge is jointly owned by BNSF and CN. |
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| Jeff Yielding commented on his post And the speed limit is a whooping 5mph! Have watched many trains go over this man-made wonder. Here's is my photo that I submitted to wikipedia. Oh, and the total length including the approaches is 6,424 ft. |
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