Archer Avenue Bridge over South Fork of South Branch of Chicago River

(Satellite)

Who would have guessed that Archer Avenue used to have interesting bridges. Obviously the remnants of Bubbly Creek used to be considered navigable because the CN/GM&O/Alton bridge was movable.

Lynn Henschel-Drayer posted
View of the streetcar crossing the Archer Avenue Bridge over the South Branch of the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois. The streetcar is approaching a curve in the tracks. The Archer Avenue Bridge, a trunnion bascule bridge, connected the McKinley Park and Bridgeport community areas.
[This comment about it being a cable car was wrong, but I include it because it provides the dates for cable car service in Chicago. I was wondering about those dates just a week ago. Other comments indicate they would not run a cable car route over a movable bridge.]
Michael Bose This picture must have been taken between 1893 and 1906. The "street car" is a Chicago cable car, and the line it is on was among the last to be converted from horse-drawn to cable car. There are no overhead wires, and no trolley poles on the car; also the iron lined slot between the tracks is a giveaway that's it's a cable car. Chicago's cable car system was the world's largest in 1900, bigger than San Francisco's, but it was all converted to electric trolley cars by 1906 (a decade after the El was converted from steam to electric).
Michael Bose There had been a lot of accidents with people being run over by the cable car when trying to board with the car moving. The guards were added to keep people out from under the car.
[Eugene Klichowski commented that the partial view of the bridge on the left is the predecessor of today's Alton Bridge. That must have been before the tracks were elevated. I wonder what the truss bridge on the right was for.]
Eugene Klichowski The fork close to Archer bubbles today because of the waste from the soap factories that were on the east bank. It was the east west portion that was called Bubbly Creek in the early 1900's and the reversal of the Chicago river in 1900 pushed 500 gallons of water into the stock yards every day, keeping the waste from entering the mouth of the south fork. In wet seasons Bubbly Creek would flow towards Mud Lake.

Lynn commented on her post
This is the original bridge at that site.. It was built in 1870 and replaced in 1906.

Gary Statkus commented on Lynn's post
The reason for the curve could be for a turn to get down to 31st Street. From and old streetcar route map.

Flood of 2019: 1909 A&M/Frisco Bridge over Arkansas River near Forth Smith, AR

(Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; 3D Satellite)

A&M = Arkansas & Missouri, a regular railroad with a tourist operation     (system map)

Screenshot  @ -0:59

3D Satellite

I looked through all of the images available on Global Earth to confirm that the river is always this wide. But it is not normally that high. And normally the current is slow enough that there is no turbulence downstream of the piers.

On the right side of this street view, I have captured a view of the swing pier. Given the clumps of trees on both sides of the swing span, it is hard to believe that there used to be a navigable channel over there. Especially since the lift span wasn't added until 1976. [Tom Duggan's comment on Bridge Hunter in 2006]

Street View, looking Northwest from US-71 Business

Gran Paw Ed Hile commented on a post

Rachel Rodemann, SWtimes1
[In 2014, both northern cables broke stopping both rail and river traffic.]

The first train crossed the rail bridge at the Arkansas River from Fort Smith to Van Buren late Thursday since the bridge got struck Tuesday.
A crew of about 30 worked all day Thursday after bridge inspectors from a firm in St. Louis examined on Wednesday the damage from two cables that had snapped, tilting the bridge and making it impassable, said railroad Police Chief Ron Sparks with Arkansas & Missouri Railroad.
Crews worked in 20-degree temperatures to get the bridge level for rail traffic. The first train crossed the bridge from Fort Smith to Van Buren about 8:20 p.m., Sparks said.
“We’ll be running trains all night to get the freight caught up,” Sparks said. “There are 12 barges in the river waiting to come through.”
Sparks said he expected river traffic to resume by daylight Friday. Coast Guard officials came up with plans to use towboats on either side of the bridge to push a barge across, or to use towboats with retractable wheelhouses to get under the bridge.
“From then, we’ll be working on that bridge from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day until we get it back up and operational where it will go up and down,” Sparks said. “Saturday, Sunday, whatever it takes we’ll be out there.”
Crews still are unsure what caused the cables to snap.
[SWtimes2]

Richard Crabtree posted

Lets get a picture at that new bridge 📷

Here we see First Frisco Bridge across the Arkansas River between Van Buren, Arkansas and Fort Smith, Arkansas

The first train to cross was on February 9, 1886.

Photo circa 1886-7

Wolf Skyranch Grulkey posted
The Arkansas Missouri RR Lift Bridge over the Arkansas River at Van Buren/Fort Smith. The bridge and a steam passenger train were used for the opening scenes of Biloxi Blues. Built in 1909 I think.
Bruce B. Reynolds: The bridge section to the right of the photo was once a center-pivot swing bridge, function of which was replaced by the lift bridge to the left.

3D Satellite, accessed May 31, 2023

1909 Manhattan Bridge over the East River in NYC, NY

(Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges, rates 10 and 10; HAER; NYCroads; Dave Frieder Photos; 3D Satellite)

(Update: RoadTraffic-Technology article)

Photo from HAER NY,31-NEYO,164--1 from ny0980

1. VIEW LOOKING TOWARDS MANHATTAN WITH BROOKLYN BRIDGE ON RIGHT - Manhattan Bridge, Spanning East River at Flatbush Avenue, between New York City & Brooklyn, New York County, NY

[It looks like the World Trade Towers are still standing on the left.

Brooklyn Bridge is on the left, not the right.]

This single span suspension bridge contains one of the longest suspension spans in the U.S., and had the largest carrying capacity in the country when it was built. It is unusual in that it was designed as a dual-level bridge; carrying street-cars on the upper level and subway tracks on the lower, with roadways in the center of each level. The approaches to the bridge were designed by Carrere and Hastings, and incorporated allegorical figures of Manhattan and Brooklyn by Daniel Chester French, which have since been removed to the Brooklyn Museum. [HAER]

Arthur Overdijk posted
New York

Obviously, the above image was cropped from the following.

History Daily photo
The Manhattan Bridge under construction, 1909.
Mike Breski shared
Postcards from old New York posted
Manhattan Bridge under construction, New York City 1909

 

Highway Engineering Discoveries posted
Manhattan Bridge ✈️

Postcards from old New York posted
Manhattan Bridge under construction, New York City 1909

Bridges Now and Then posted
New York City's Manhattan Bridge under construction, c. 1908. (Brooklyn Historical Society)

 

Brooklyn New York Baby Boomers and Everyone Who Loves Brooklyn posted

early construction

Manhattan Bridge Fast Facts

Type of bridge: Suspension

Construction started 10.1.1901

Opened to traffic 12.31.1909

Length of main span 1,470 ft.

Total length of bridge including approaches 6,855 ft.

Location Connects Flatbush Ave in Downtown Brooklyn with Canal St in Chinatown

Clearance at center above mean high water 135 ft.

Diameter of each of the four main cables 21.25 ins.

Length of each of the four main cables 3,224 ft.

Cost of original structure $31,000,000

Bridges Now and Then shared

Dave Frieder: Opened to Traffic on 12/31/09. But Bridge was NOT completed until 1912. FIRST, Modern suspension bridge. Engineer of design, Leon Moisseiff.

 

Bridges Now and Then posted
"Building The Manhattan Bridge." Oil on canvas by Gerrit A. Beneker, 1909.

1910 Postcard via Bridge Hunter

One of the important design considerations concerning suspension bridges is anchoring the suspension cables.

Photo taken by Geoff Hubbs in March 2019, License: Released into public domain

NYCroads
Original cross-section of the roadway on the Manhattan Bridge. (Figure by Paul Phillipe Cret and Rudolphe Modjeski.)
[The lower rails were for subways and the upper rails were for streetcars.]

The subway traffic hastened the deterioration of the bridge because the concentrated load of a train twisted the deck. Over a half-billion dollars was spent during the 1990s and 2000s to reconstruct the deck. It had already been reconfigured from four streetcar and four vehicle lanes to seven vehicle lanes. Each streetcar level carries two lanes and the center part now carries three reversible lanes. And, of course, the vehicles are no longer horse&buggies. [NYCroads]

Fred Hadley posted four photos with the comment:

One feature of the Manhattan Bridge, under construction in 1908, which has attracted much attention in and called for considerable comment is the apparently light construction, and the certainly light appearance of the towers. This is noticeable if they are compared with the massive ma­sonry towers of the adjoining Brooklyn Bridge, or the bulky and very inartistic towers of the Williams­burg Bridge farther up the river. 

As a matter of fact, the Manhattan Bridge towers are of particularly strong and stiff construction. The weight is carried on four closed, plate-steel, box columns, which rise uninterruptedly from base to top. 

They are built of heavy plating, upon the cellular system, heavy trans­verse diaphragms running throughout the full height of each tower, and assisting to give the required amount of cross-sectional area of steel and the necessary stiff­ness, to prevent distortion by buckling under the heavy loads imposed. 

To preserve the four legs in the true vertical position and resist all tendency to displacement by wind pressure, the whole of which on the full length of the bridge will be communicated to and must be resisted by the towers, each pair of legs is heavily braced together by transverse trussing. In addition to this, each pair of legs, as thus braced, is strongly tied together at the top, at the mid-height, and at the level of the floor system by massive truss­ing and knee bracing.

Traffic will be carried upon two decks, and the bridge will accommodate four rapid transit tracks, four surface tracks, one 35-foot roadway, and two ll-foot footwalks. Construction work was commenced in 1901, and, as we have said, it will be completed toward the close of 1909.

Scientific American excerpt, April 10, 1909

1

2

3

4

Bridges Now and Then posted
The Manhattan Bridge looking at the Brooklyn end, 1909. (Old Images of New York)
Bridges Now and Then posted
The Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge, NYC, c. 1909. (Library of Congress)

Bridges Now and Then posted
The Manhattan Bridge is seen during construction, c. 1908.

Comments on the above post

Bridges Now and Then posted
New York City's Manhattan Bridge, 1987. (Anko Photography)

Bridges Now and Then posted
The Manhattan Bridge, 1946. (Ed Clark)

Bridges Now and Then posted
The Manhattan Bridge under construction, c. 1905. (Brooklyn Historical Society)

Bridges Now and Then posted
Manhattan Bridge, 1953 (Neal Boenzi, New York Times)

c
Riding on the Manhattan Bridge, New York City, 1946. (Ed Clark)
Dave Frieder: At this time the bridge had the Original suspenders and cable bands. Those were replaced in 1955 with Again, Roebling wire rope. They were replaced back in the early 2000's with another brand.

Bridges Now and Then posted
Manhattan Bridge construction, New York, c. 1908.

Bridges Now and Then posted
New York City's Manhattan Bridge, 1911. (Museum of Modern Art)
Bridges Now and Then: Of course, the Brooklyn Bridge is seen in the background.

Jack Bobby Lou Mulreavy updated, cropped
B&O tug with 2 carfloats on the East River.

Bridges Now and Then posted
New York City's Manhattan Bridge, November, 1925.

Comments on the above post

Bridges Now and Then posted, cropped
Manhattan Bridge, 1987, (Janet Delaney)

Bridges Now and Then posted
Building the Manhattan Bridge, from Cassier's Magazine, 1912.

 

Bridges Now and Then posted
The Manhattan tower of the Manhattan Bridge is seen under construction in a photo from Cassier's Magazine, 1912. The bridge had opened in 1909, but this photo wasn't published until 1912.

Bridges Now and Then posted
Manhattan Bridge under construction. February 11, 1909

Bridges Now and Then posted
Manhattan Bridge construction, 1908.
Dave Frieder: Leon S. Moisseiff, engineer of design. O.F. Nichols, engineer in charge of construction.
The Sockets at the end of the suspenders were originally attached to the Lower Chord. During the recent rehab work the New suspenders are now attached to the upper Chord. This prevents chaffing of the ropes when the deck twists. The twisting or torsional movement used to be 4-6 feet! But now it has been reduced to about one foot. This is the 3rd set of suspenders on this bridge.

Bridges Now and Then posted
New York's Manhattan Bridge is seen here in a March 23, 1909 photo by Irving Underhill.
Bridges Now and Then posted
A nice look at construction progress on New York's Manhattan Bridge, c. 1908.

Comments on the first post for the above photo

Bridges Now and Then posted
New York City's Manhattan Bridge, c. 1908.

Bridges Now and Then posted
Found this pic of the Manhattan Bridge in the same box of photos taken by my mom.

Bridges Now and Then posted
A classic photo of the Manhattan Bridge from 1974 by Danny Lyon.
Dave Frieder: If you notice the bridge is still the Original medium Gray! It was not "Manhattan Bridge Blue"
[According to some comments, it was taken from Brooklyn.]

Bridges Now and Then posted
Construction on New York's Manhattan Bridge, c. 1907.
Bridges Now and Then posted
Manhattan Bridge construction, New York City, c. 1909. (Monovisions)

Bridges Now and Then posted
A view across the Manhattan Bridge, June 14, 1922. (Eugene de Salignac)

Bridges Now and Then posted
USS Wyoming passes under the Manhattan Bridge, in this c. 1915 photo taken from the Brooklyn Bridge.

Bridges Now and Then posted
The East River and the Manhattan Bridge, 1948. (Harold Roth)

Bridges Now and Then posted
A view of the Manhattan Bridge from the Brooklyn Bridge, 1955. (Mario de Biasi)

Bridges Now and Then posted
USS Bennington passes under the Manhattan Bridge, New York, July, 1953. (Charles L Koenig)

Bridges Now and Then posted
Berenice Abbott, Manhattan Bridge, 1936.
Dave Frieder: She used her 8x10 Camera.
Jim Mmee: no ugly cage over the walkway

Bridges Now and Then posted
Manhattan Bridge, 1936. (Berenice Abbott)
Bill Campbell: Still had the flags on the tower tops.
Dave Frieder: Original suspenders and cable bands.

Bridges Now and Then posted
A Manhattan Bridge 3¢ Line streetcar on the bridge, 1917. (Smithsonian Libraries)

MJM Photo Co. posted
The Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn looking into NYC.
Bridges Now and Then shared

 

Dave Frieder commented on the above share
I have climbed Everywhere on this bridge! Really miss all of that! View of base of Brooklyn Tower.

Bridges Now and Then posted
A photo of the Manhattan Bridge titled "A normal day on the job, February 12, 1948." (Irving Kaufman)

Dave Frieder commented on the above post
I made this image back in 1996!

Bridges Now and Then posted
The Manhattan Bridge, NYC, c. 1908. (International Images)

Old New York City posted
Riggers Eddie Fennery and Frank Harvey preparing the cables of the Manhattan Bridge for painting as News photographer Bill Meurer sits on a cable and prepares to shoot a picture. Foreman Frank Callahan stands behind Meurer. (Photo by Charles Hoff/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) 1940
Bridges Now and Then shared

Bridges Now and Then posted
The Williamsburg Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and the Brooklyn Bridge can be seen from atop the World Trade Center during its construction, New York City, 1971. (Photo by A. Vine/Daily Express/Getty Images)

Bridges Now and Then posted
Here's a photo contributed by our friend Dave Frieder that he took on top of NYC's Manhattan Bridge. Don't forget, Dave is selling his book on New York City bridges, look in the comments for more details. Thanks, Dave!
[I looked in the comments, but I could not find any details about the book. Bummer!]

14 photos