Monday, March 20, 2023

MBTA SOC Bridge over Saugus River at Lynn, MA

1911,1989: (Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; HAER; 3D Satellite)

"Significance: The Saugus River Drawbridge is a single-leaf Strauss overhead counterweight bascule which is believed to be the oldest known example of its type in Massachusetts. It is particularly significant for its innovative engineering design and association with a prominent bridge engineer, Joseph Baermann Strauss, whose company designed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco." [HAER-data]

3D Satellite

HAER MASS,5-SAUG,2--5
5. VIEW OF DRAW SPAN CLOSED, LOOKING WEST - Saugus River Drawbridge, Spanning Saugus River at MBTA Railroad Eastern Route, Saugus, Essex County, MA

HAER MASS,5-SAUG,2--8
8. VIEW SHOWING DRAW SPAN PARTIALLY OPEN, LOOKING WEST

HAER MASS,5-SAUG,2--9
9. VIEW SHOWING DRAW SPAN FULLY OPEN, LOOKING WEST
 
MBTA Commuter Rail posted
Here’s an eastbound (outbound) train being pulled by a 4-6-2 “P2” steam locomotive thundering across the Saugus Draw in West Lynn in early- to mid-1956. Today, this is next to River Works on the Newburyport/Rockport Line. This train’s likely destination is Marblehead or Danvers, now closed branches of the commuter rail network. These were some of the last routes to use steam locomotives before the full replacement with diesel.
📸: Russel F Munroe, Jr
Douglas Butler posted

Street View, Oct 2021

Lost Mare Island Causeway SOC Bridges over Napa River in Vallejo, CA

1919: 2-lane wood SOC bridge
1935: 3-lane concrete SOC bridge, this was a WPA project
1980: (Bridge Hunter; 3D Satellite) this increased the navigation channel width from 75' to 100'.
The causeway is now named "Ernest D Wichels Causeway," who was the only person to see all three bridges dedicated.
I wonder how much work the navy still does here.


Mare Island Museum posted
[An extensive history, it is well worth a mouse click or screen tap.]
Douglas Butler shared
Credit to Mare Island Museum: The Mare Island Causeway Shipyard Bascule Bridge is a Strauss Overhead Counterweight Trunnion Bascule Bridge designed by the Strauss Bascule Bridge Co. and built in 1935 by the Barett Hilp. This bridge crosses the Mare Island Strait in Mare Island and Vallejo, CA. Used by Road and Railroad Interurban, Sacramento Northern Railway, San Francisco & Napa Valley Railroad, Napa & Calistoga Railway, and US Military Transportation, the bridge was the second bridge built and was replaced with a vertical lift bridge in 1980.

Mare Island Museum also posted
Mare Island Causeway Bridges #1 and #2
[Note that the first bridge also used a SOC design.]

John McCory, Aug 2022

Street View, Aug 2022

Sunday, March 19, 2023

1851+1960 Lewiston-Queenston Bridges over Niagara Gorge (River)

1851: (Bridge Hunter) Queenston-Lewiston Bridge
1960: (Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; 3D Satellite) Lewiston-Queenston Bridge
Note that the order of the cities in the name is different.

1851 Suspension Bridge

"Begun in 1850, opened March 20, 1851" [BridgeHunter-1851]
"On February 1st 1864, a storm with gale force winds caused the center span of the bridge to fall to the river below. Long guy wires which extended from the bridge to the shoreline used to stabilize the bridge deck had been disconnected to prevent damage from the ice on the river below." [NiagaraFrontier]

Photo via HistoricBridges

RightInNiagara via BridgeHunter-1851, RightInNiagara has several photos before and after the collapse


A second suspension bridge



Mike Cushman posted, cropped
Original Queenston/Lewiston Bridge.

Andrew Riddel commented on Mike's post
Brock’s monument in right corner.
[The comments contain more photos, but I believe some of them are of the 1851 bridge.]


1960 Arch


Photo by Sloan Kelly via TripSavvy via BridgeHunter-1960, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)
looking north

Photo by James Neiss via LockportJournal via BridgeHunter-1960, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)
looking north
When imposed, the wind restrictions for this bridge are: "a crossing speed reduction to 5 mph, traffic being restricted to one lane in each direction and a ban on all empty tractor trailers or tandems from crossing."

Dec 2020 Photo by Josh Schmid via BridgeHunter-1960, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)
View from north

The falsework used bents instead of tiebacks.
Photo via HistoricBridges


Saturday, March 18, 2023

Hennepin Canal Lock #31 and Swing Bridge

(3D Satellite)

Janis Arter, Oct 2020

I've had to guess that this bridge was the one upstream of this lock. There were several comments about "fishing there," but no one indicated where "there" was.
Retro Quad Cities posted
The Hennepin Canal bridge on Big Island, taken in 1957.

Dennis DeBruler commented on the above post
Was this the bridge at Lock 31?
1948 Milan Quadrangle @ 1:24,000



1894 Quaker Bridge Road over Croton River near Croton-On-Hudson

(Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; B&T; Satellite)

The Croton Dam is just a little further upstream.

This 1894 bridge replaced an 1847 covered bridge. "Notably, the site of the new bridge was once under consideration as the location for the New Croton Dam, which would have served as a water supply source." [B&T]

Street View, Jul 2021

1 of 2 photos posted by Bridges & Tunnels
The Quaker Bridge, renowned for its uniqueness, is among the most ancient surviving steel bridges in Westchester County, New York. Constructed in 1894 as a replacement for a ruined covered structure, the Pratt through truss displays intricate embellishments at its portals. Despite its schedule for replacement in 1953, no work was undertaken, and the bridge underwent numerous refurbishments over the years, with the most recent taking place in 1994-95. The renovation included structural rehabilitation, installation of a new roadway deck, and a comprehensive repainting of the Quaker Bridge.
 Check out more photos at http://bridgestunnels.com/location/quaker-bridge-2/

Street View
Per HistoricBridges, note that the date plaque has been moved from under the portal to the upstream end post.

Before the alterations. 
Postcard via BridgeHunter, HistoricBridges has a different exposure

1 of several photos by Patrick Gurwell via BridgeHunter

Friday, March 17, 2023

MWRD: Buffalo Creek Reservoir

(Satellite, 3,479 photos)

MWRD
"The Buffalo Creek Reservoir Expansion Project increased storage capacity to alleviate flooding for downstream communities, while at the same time improving public recreation amenities at Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve. The $9.7-million project increased the existing Buffalo Creek Reservoir's volume by approximately 180 acre-feet to account for an additional 58.6 million gallons of flood storage. Seven new timber boardwalks were installed and pedestrian paths were relocated and reconstructed to remove them from inundation during the 10-year storm event."

MWRD
The MWRD planted 850 new trees, 200 shrubs, an upland prairie and wetlands. Then the local forest preserve will be responsible for maintenance.

Since this expansion was about 60m gallons, the expansion done in 1988 created a reservoir that could hold 240m gallons.
1:10 video @ 0:27

I didn't go through many of the 3000+ photos, but I did catch this. The culvert in front will allow water to go downstream during and after a storm while the spillway will release water if a storm exceeds the 300m storage capacity.
Michael Needham, Apr 2021

Given the above photo, I looked for that control structure.
Street View

"Recent work by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago is increasing the reservoir's capacity to nearly 60 million gallons" [estormwater] This article was written by two MWRD PR specialists. They should have written: "Recent work by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago increased the reservoir's capacity by about 60 million gallons to more than 300 million gallons." 
They raised the trails and boardwalks to keep them out of the water during a 10-year storm event. In 2014, the state of Illinois expanded the MWRD's authority to manage storm water in addition to waste water. [estormwater]

Thursday, March 16, 2023

IORY/B&O Rattlesnake Creek Bridges near East Monroe, OH

New: (Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Image via BridgeHunter-old

They reused the cut-stone piers.
Postcard via BridgeHunter-new

Did they replace the piers or just encase the old piers in concrete? This confirms what I noticed in the satellite image: the center pier is massive compared to the other ones.
Jamie Adams posted
Chessie System/B&O #4345 leads the Philadelphia Trailer Train at East Monroe, Ohio on December 1, 1984. - Kodachrome slide. Dan Finfrock photo. Collection of J.L. Adams.
David Rohdenburg: There are very few images of the trestle and waterfall at East Monroe, wow! Tracks are still there today as the Greenfield Subdivision of the I&O, but they only go over the trestle a couple of times a week, and, sadly, the waterfall is now inaccessible.









Wednesday, March 15, 2023

1911 914' GAP Trail/WM Brush Tunnel near Cumberland, MD

(Bridge Hunter; Satellite; Portals: West, East)

This interactive map of the trail is one of the sources that indicates the closest access to the tunnel is at Cash Valley Road.

The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, which runs between Frostburg and Cumberland, shares this tunnel with the GAP Trail. Note that they simply put a fence between the trail and railroad.
Aug 2012 Photo by Jim Allen via BridgeHunter
[According to Bryan Burton's comment below, this view is looking at the west portal.]

Since the trail is on the opposite side in this photo, this would be a view of the east portal.
Apr 2021 Photo by Bradley Owen via hmdb

Oct 2016 Photo by bikeabout via FourSquare

Brush Tunnel is near the upper-left corner of this map. The Cumberland and Pennsylvania is the railroad that chose to stay in the valley of Jennings Run. Obviously, WM chose to quickly climb out of the valley. Several sources label the horseshoe curve just east of the tunnel Helmstetter's Curve.
The WM will climb 1800' in 24 miles to cross the Eastern Continental divide. [MidatlanticBikeTrails]
1949 Cumberland Quad @ 24,000

hmdb, cropped
"The Brush Tunnel was built in 1911, constructed of reinforced concrete, and designed for two tracks. The tunnel is located on the Connellsville Extension of the Western Maryland Railway in Cash Valley, four miles west of Cumberland.
"The extension from Cumberland to Connellsville, Pennsylvania was completed in 1912 at an enormous cost through rugged and mountainous country. The line was built to serve a twofold purpose; to provide a western outlet for the Western Maryland and an eastern tidewater outlet for the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. It afforded the Western Maryland the shortest line between Baltimore and Pittsburgh and the lowest grade line across the Allegheny Mountains.
"These 1915 photographs include a Baltimore to Chicago passenger train entering the tunnel, soon to emerge into the Jennings Run Valley."

Bryan Burton Photography posted
Chesapeake and Ohio 1309 exits the west portal of the Brush Tunnel at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. 2/23
Randall Hampton shared

When WM Scenic is running their steam locomotive, this warning about entering the tunnel is well worth heeding.
Gary Bensman, Oct 2019, cropped




Tuesday, March 14, 2023

NYC Water Supply: 1842 Old Croton Aqueduct over Sing Sing Kill in Ossining, NY

(Bridge Hunter; HAER; B&T3D Satellite, looking West)

The upper arch carried the Old Croton Aqueduct. It was the first NYC water supply project. It is now a trail. The lower arch carries Broadway over the Sing Sing Krill.
Postcard via BridgeHunter

The Broadway arch allows us to get a closeup view of the aqueduct arch.
Street View, Sep 2017

Richard Guo, Jun 2022

Ira Gershenhorn, Jun 2022, cropped

Ira Gershenhorn, Jun 2022, cropped

Vadim Nobel, May 2022
 
1 of 3 photos posted by Bridges & Tunnels
Two distinctive arch bridges along Broadway and the former Croton Aqueduct cross Sing Sing Kill in Ossining, New York.
The construction of the Croton Aqueduct was spurred by the pollution of local freshwater sources in Manhattan and increased disease which led to the construction of the Croton Aqueduct between 1837-42. It included a stone arch bridge over Sing Sing Kill in Ossining which was comprised of granite and gneiss blocks with an interior structure composed of brick.
The Sing Sing Kill bridge was built larger than what was required to accommodate the stream as it was required to include a passageway through the bridge to provide a landowner access from his house to his field. A rudimentary wooden bridge along Mill Street (today’s Broadway) in the vicinity of Whitson’s Mill was constructed under the aqueduct which was replaced with a stone arch structure in 1861.

The stone arch for Broadway was added in 1861. [B&T]
 HAER NY,60-OSS,2A--8, cropped
8. Photocopied December 1977, from F.B. Tower "Illustrations of the Croton Aqueduct," New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1843. AQUEDUCT BRIDGE AT SING SING - Old Croton Aqueduct, Sing Sing Kill Bridge, Spanning Aqueduct Street & Broadway, Ossining, Westchester County, NY

There were a lot fewer trees back in 1843.
HAER NY,60-OSS,2A--7, cropped
7. Photocopied December 1977, from F.B. Tower, Illustrations of the Croton Aqueduct, New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1843. CROTON AQUEDUCT AT SING SING, PLATE XIII, PAGE 101. - Old Croton Aqueduct, Sing Sing Kill Bridge, Spanning Aqueduct Street & Broadway, Ossining, Westchester County, NY

This arch bridge is in the left part of the above illustration.
Street View, Sep 2017