1903 CP/Milwaukee Bobtail Bridge over Menomonee Slip in Milwaukee, WI

(Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

Street View from 6th Street

 

BridgeHunter

South 6th Street opened 24 times in 2017. [UrbanMilwaukee] But I doubt if any of that traffic came down to the south slip because the old flour mill or malt house looks closed.

Wisconsin History via BridgeHunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)

Bing Owens posted five images with the comment: "CP - Burnham Bridge in Milwaukee, WI today...A bobtail swing bridge over the Menomonee River...beautiful day for an outing..."

Dennis DeBruler: Per Wisconsin History,

https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI106686#

"This counter-balanced swing bridge was built in 1907 by the American Bridge Company for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. Constructed of steel, the 203-foot-long bridge replaced an earlier wooden swing bridge, which dated to 1872 and had a clear opening of 49 feet. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway wanted to replace the original bridge with one of similar dimensions; however, property owners in the area and the Merchants & Manufacturers Association successfully petitioned the Corps of Engineers to widen the canal, thus necessitating a larger bridge with a clear opening of 65 feet. The subject double-track bridge appears to be a variation of a Warren truss." - "Marquette Interchange, Milwaukee", WisDOT ID #1060-05-02, Prepared by Heritage Research (McQuillen) (2001). 2020 - The bridge rotates on a circular drum placed atop evenly spaced rollers, and is an example of a “bobtail” swing bridge, in which the bridge is not symmetrically centered over a swing pier, but instead has a longer end spanning the majority of the channel, and a shorter end anchored with a counterweight. A small operator’s shed, constructed of wooden frame with clapboard siding, is located along the north side of the bridge face.

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