1891 Aetnaville Bridge over Ohio River Back Channel at Wheeling Island, WV

(Bridge Hunter broke Mar 22, 2023; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

This photo allowed me to confirm that it is a pin-connected truss.

C Hanchey Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 
Aetnaville Bridge

Historic Aetnaville Bridge over the Ohio River back channel at Wheeling Island, West Virginia. The 1891 bridge is a three-span pin-connected Pennsylvania through truss and was closed in 1988. The bridge is also known as the Georgia Street Bridge.

The Aetnaville Bridge is listed as a contributing resource to the National Register of Historic Places Wheeling Island Historic District (listing #92000320).

3D Satellite

Bridges & Tunnels posted four photos with the comment:

The Aetnaville Bridge, an abandoned yet emblematic structure that connects the former village of Aetnaville in Bridgeport, Ohio, with Wheeling Island in Wheeling, West Virginia, is scheduled for demolition. Built between 1890 and 1891 by the Youngstown Bridge Company using components from the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, this bridge features seven Pennsylvania through trusses connected by pins and supported by sandstone piers. Originally used as a conduit for the Wheeling Railway Company’s interurbans between Wheeling and Bridgeport, and extending to other cities in West Virginia and Ohio, the bridge was repurposed for automobile use in 1937 after streetcar operations ceased. Toll collection stopped in 1953, and the bridge was permanently closed to automobiles in December 1988.

The West Virginia Department of Highways has set July 28, 2025, as the start date for demolishing the Aetnaville Bridge’s superstructure, with an estimated cost of $2.5 million. This decision was made after years of concern over the bridge’s condition, including a detailed inspection in October 2015 that led to its closure to pedestrian traffic in early 2016 due to structural issues.

🔖 More on the Aetnaville Bridge: http://bridgestunnels.com/location/aetnaville-bridge/

Bridges & Tunnels shared with the comment:

The Aetnaville Bridge, an abandoned yet emblematic structure that connects the former village of Aetnaville in Bridgeport, Ohio, with Wheeling Island in Wheeling, West Virginia, is scheduled for demolition. More on its history: http://bridgestunnels.com/location/aetnaville-bridge/

Built between 1890 and 1891 by the Youngstown Bridge Company using components from the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, this bridge features seven Pennsylvania through trusses connected by pins and supported by sandstone piers. Originally used as a conduit for the Wheeling Railway Company’s interurbans between Wheeling and Bridgeport, and extending to other cities in West Virginia and Ohio, the bridge was repurposed for automobile use in 1937 after streetcar operations ceased. Toll collection stopped in 1953, and the bridge was permanently closed to automobiles in December 1988.

The West Virginia Department of Highways has set July 28, 2025, as the start date for demolishing the Aetnaville Bridge’s superstructure, with an estimated cost of $2.5 million. This decision was made after years of concern over the bridge’s condition, including a detailed inspection in October 2015 that led to its closure to pedestrian traffic in early 2016 due to structural issues.

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