Monday, December 9, 2019

US-62/641, PAL/IC and I-24/69 Bridges over Tennessee River

US-62+641: (Bridge Hunter; no B&T?; Satellite)  Official name is George A. "Tony" Ellis Memorial Bridge
PAL/IC: (Bridge Hunter; B&TBlogSatellite)  PAL = Paducah & Louisville Railway
I-24+69: (Bridge Hunter; B&TBlogSatellite) Named the Luther Draffen Bridges

I'm doing all three bridges in one post because a photo of one often includes one of the other bridges. The railroad tracks used to cross the river on top of the Kentucky Dam. The railroad and US-62 was relocated downstream in 2009 to make room for constructing a larger lock for the dam. The pair of I-24 bridges were built in 1974.

Photo form KYTC Facebook album
"The 3,117 ft. long plate girder bridge has a 505 ft. main navigation span."
The road bridge is on the right and the P&L bridge is on the left.

I grabbed this photo to record the two tows approaching the Kentucky Dam that we are driving over. The girders of the road bridge obscure the bottom of the adjacent railroad truss. (That first tow looks like it is listing.)
20141218 0029

This was taken from the dams visitor center parking lot. The first tow is entering the channel to the lock on the right whereas the second tow is approaching the spans of the I-24/69 bridges.

Turning to my right, I got a photo that shows the bottom chord of the RR span.


I walked a little ways down the access road to get a better view. If you compare the position of the towboat for the first tow to the pier of the I-24 bridge, you can see that it has made some progress. The second tow is probably holding position to wait its turn to lock through.


The truss carries the railroad over the navigation channel. The I-24 tied arch span is in the left background. According to the comments, "weathering steel" is the generic term for CorTen steel.
Street View
A comment in Bridge Hunter indicated that they replaced the joints in 2018 because one of them broke.
Street View, May 2018

This construction photo motivated the post. The skinny piers on the left are obviously for the RR bridge.
Michael Haynes posted
4100 ringers at work.
Michael Haynes American Bridge mid 2000’s. Blue rig is theirs, red one is maxim’s.

Jim Pearson Photography posted
Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4523, 4142, 2101 and 2104, lead an 8,100ft military train across the Tennessee River at Kentucky Dam at Gilbertsville, Kentucky, on May 17th, 2024.
The crew took the train on to Paducah, Ky where it was tied down for the night. Where it went beyond there I’ve not heard, but in the past BNSF has picked up these moves and took them on west.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 160.

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