Monday, May 26, 2025

1940 Rooster Creek Bridge near Catfish Bay on Lake Texoma near Kingston, OK

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

It is a single lane bridge that is 225' (69m) long.
Street View, May 2022

It spans a lobe of Lake Texoma that is formed by the Denison Dam. Since it is a dam-controlled lake, sometimes it is low, and...
2014 Photo by Logan Layden via BridgeHunter

...sometimes the lake is high.
2007 Photo by Liz Lavallee via BridgeHunter

This is the normal lake level.
BridgeHunter

May 2025 Flood


Meteorologist Chris Nunley posted

Blanchard, OK: Dam Breach and Destroyed County Road

(Satellite)

May 2025 Flood


This county road is built on a dam so when the dam was breached, the road was severed.
Storm Chaser Jordan Hall posted

KOCO 5 News posted

Now all of the homes west of the breach are isolated.
Satellite

Lake Lawtonka Dam on Medicine Creek near Lawton, OK

(Satellite)

Street View, Oct 2024

The area had a significant flood in 2015 so the spillway gates were used.
TeachOklahoma, Aug 11, 2015

NorthwesternCraneService, I could not find a date.
"The LTM 1450-8.1 using luffer to pull out old dam gates at 231′. The 20,000 lb gates were re-finished and put back in place, all while allowing traffic on the lake side of the dam to continue without delays or closures."

This is one of several dams built in the Texas-Oklahoma area to store water for a water supply. They kept raising the height of the dam to store more water. It is now the largest lake in Oklahoma.
experience

This was when it was 50' (15.2m) high.
experience
"Postcard of the dam, January 15, 1912"

experience
"Aerial photograph of the dam at Lake Lawtonka (1918-1922)"

experience
"Newspaper photo 'The eight steel gates atop the Lake Lawtonka spillway are shown being open for inspection,' 1956"

May 2025 Flood


The 2025 flood is in the same ballpark as the 2015 flood.
Haley Wilson posted 0:05 video on Apr 30, 2025
UPDATE as of 1pm, Lawtonka now had 6 of 8 gates open 38” and Ellsworth has 12 of 16 open to 15”
The City of Lawton has opened 6 of Lake Lawtonka’s 8 gates to 34” each and 12 of Lake Ellsworth’s 16 gates to 10” each. The city’s website says both of the lakes are 100% full. This is video Justin Stevens got at Lake Lawtonka earlier today.
[A comment observed that they had 18" of rain.]

usgs

A little downstream from the dam is a waterfall.
Satellite

I've seen several Facebook Reels of a heavy flow over the flows. I picked this one because it documents that the flow has stayed within the banks of the creek.
Facebook Reel

There were also a lot of Facebook Reels that showed water in this gorge. But they are close up to the water and don't show much other than a strong current. And some comments that the trail is under water. I think this view is more meaningful. Imagine enough water flowing through the gorge that it is several feet above the trail.
Street View, Oct 2016

Sunday, May 25, 2025

1952,1988-202? I-76 (PA Turnpike) Bridge over Beaver River near Koppel, PA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

The deck truss bridge was 1546' (471m) long with a 410' (125m) span. [HistoricBridges]

Street View, Jun 2024

Facebook Reel

Facebook Reel

Facebook Reel

1932,1977-202? Frankfort Road (PA-18) and P&LE Bridges over Raccoon Creek near Monaca, PA

PA-13: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)
P&LE: (no Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Street View, Oct 2024

Why should a state do maintenance such as painting a truss bridge when Federal taxpayers will pay for 80% of a new bridge?
Facebook Reel (Shell Cracker Plant)

The deck truss in the background of this screenshot caught my eye.
Facebook Reel

Street View, Oct 2024

The railroad bridge was the P&LE.
1953/55 Beaver Quad @ 24,000

Saturday, May 24, 2025

1973 100mw Ozark-Jeta Taylor Lock and Dam on Arkansas River near Ozark, AR

(Satellite)

Street View, Feb 2024

"The Ozark-Jetta Taylor Lock and Dam is approximately 2,500 feet (762 m) long, 42 feet (13 m) high and has a structural volume of 120,000 cubic yards (91,747 cubic metres). The reservoir has a normal storage capacity of 129,000 acre-ft (159,119 Ml) and maximum capacity of 148,400 acre-ft (183,048 Ml). The dam has a 750 feet (229 m) wide controlled spillway with a maximum discharge capacity of 570000 cubic feet per second (16141 cubic metres per second)." [DamsOfTheWorld]

USACE_photo, Tomas Rofkahr
"Headed down the Arkansas, a barge locks through at the Ozark-Jetta Taylor Lock and Dam. Located at mile 308 of the river, the Ozark lock and dam is just one unit of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) that originates at the Port of Catoosa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Running southeast through Oklahoma and Arkansas to the Mississippi River, the MKARNS ensures a 9-foot navigable channel for commercial barge traffic. The MKARNS is a 'high-use' waterway system that routinely sees more than 10 million tons of traffic a year."
[I wonder why the towboat is pushing on a side barge instead of the center barge.]

The photo above shows that the locks have the standard width of 110', but it must be longer than 600' to take 9 barges and a towboat. I include the scale in this satellite image because it implies the lock is 800' long.
Satellite

dvids
"Ozark Lake covers 10,600 acres of water area at Mean Sea Level (MSL) elevation 372.0 feet. A land area of 6,349 acres surrounds the lake and extends around the shoreline for a distance of 173 miles."

The power plant was built with five 20mw slant-axis turbines. A slant-axis turbine is a recent design that "allows more generation to be packed into a smaller area." But they have proven to be a maintenance nightmare. Rehab work started in 2005 and several problems were encountered which stretched out the rehab work to 2021. One of the problems was construction---the 26' (8m) water passages were not "centered."  "The solution, in this case, was to develop a massive reverse lathe/boring bar to go through the slow and exacting work of scraping out and milling the water passage. It was a huge task – and one that they found themselves having to do five more times." [issuu, unfortunately, the links for the three photos are broken.]

May 2025 Flood


Note the hydraulic jump.
Facebook Reel

US-19 1854+1908+1977 Westover Bridges over Monongahela River at Morgantown, WV

1854: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)
1908: (Archived Bridge Hunter, broken link; Bridge Hunter)

1854 Suspension Bridge


Postcard via BridgeHunter_1854

Mon river Trails Conservancy posted via Dennis DeBruler

1908 Truss Bridge


1908 photo from WVHistory On View via BridgeHunter_1908

1977 Steel Girder Bridge


Street View, Aug 2019

1894+1966,2000 Glenwood Bridges over Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, PA

1894: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter

1894 Bridge

 
1964 Photo from Pittsburgh Bridges via ArchivedBridgeHunter_1894, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)


Pennsylvania Trolley Museum posted
To a day of transit service in Pittsburgh, back in September 1963. This particular photograph shows a PCC car on the wooden decked Glenwood bridge, crossing the Monongahela River and moving inbound on the 56 line. (Photo from Ray Berger's Collection)

1966 Bridge


HistoricBridges
"This bridge is unusual because most of the trusses are below deck except at the piers where they rise up forming a through truss design."
This 2276' (394m) long bridge has a main span of 567' (173m).

pghbridges
"Its form is unusual hybrid: primarily a deck-type truss, but the panels are enlarged as they meet the piers. The top chord curves above the deck, but the side trusses are connected only at the vertical support above the piers. This upper cross-brace appears to be mostly cosmetic as the bracing below the deck is much more substantial."

That is the B&O Glenwood Bridge #73 in the right background of this view.
Street View, Nov 2024


Friday, May 23, 2025

Hennepin Canal Lock #11 and 1900 Bridge #6 County Road 1150

Lock: (Satellite)
Bridge: (Satellite)


Looking East (downstream)
Street View, Aug 2023

Dennis Nolan posted
Lock 11 report... I didn't fish here... just wanted some place shady to sit and eat my lunch. There is more water coming over the dam but it still looks low. Off the bank by the campground, you can look in the water and see tons of sunfish on beds... they are practically on top of each other! I also saw a water snake. Moving on.
Lloyd Scott Hardin shared

Note that it is not pin connected, it has rivet gusset plates.
2014 photo by GS via BridgeHunter
"South profile, looking upstream to Lock #11"

Thursday, May 22, 2025

1918 Overholser Dam on North Canadian River in Oklahoma City

(Satellite)

May 2025 Flood


Facebook Reel
"Wednesday" was May 7, 2025.

Instagram

2015 was the previous big flood on the Canadian River.
oklahoman

The dam already had one failure. Scanning the Google search results, the dam now needs $50m in repairs. FEMA cut those funds in Spring 2025.
oklahoman

The dam has multiple gated sections.
oklahoman

okenergytoday
"Lake Overholser was the first dedicated surface water reservoir constructed by the City to provide  water for the city’s growing population."

I could not find a megawatt capacity figure for the powerhouse.