Monday, June 9, 2025

2012 Skydance (Scissortail) Footbridge over I-40 in Oklahoma City, OK

(Satellite)

Street View, Feb 2024

Trail View, Nov 2016

okc
"Inspired by Oklahoma’s state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher, Skydance bridge soars over Interstate 40. The bridge is a 380-foot-long pedestrian bridge with a 197-foot-tall sculpture." It cost $5.8m.

ColorKinetics

ColorKinetics

William Alter Jr. posted two photos with the comment:
From 2022.
The Sky Dance, or “Scissor Tail” Bridge in OKC. I’ve driven under this so many times over the years I’ve lost count. While I do like the bridge, I think it’s a perfect example of how the wrong setting can mar an otherwise appealing design. To me it always seemed odd, or out of place in its “concrete” jungle setting, especially if you’re traveling on Interstate I-40 which it crosses. Such a bridge would have been better off by itself in a park as a standalone structure. 
Just my opinion…
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Sunday, June 8, 2025

1859 UP/T&P Morely Bridge over Port Allen Canal near Baton Rouge, LA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

T&P = Texas & Pacific

This bridge is the first bridge downstream from the Port Allen Lock.

2016 Photo by C Hanchey via BridgeHunter

MorleyMarina
The bridge was bult in 1959 as part of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, "a 1,050 mile inland channel running from Carrabelle, Florida to Brownsville, Texas."

MorleyMarina
"On Sunday, September 16, 1973, however, something went horribly wrong.
"As engineer Gerald Morrow raced his 100-car Texas and Pacific train from New Orleans to Shreveport, all signs indicated that the Morley Bridge was in the proper position for his crossing. What he didn’t know is that a power failure had hit the bridge while it was in raised position, and the bridge tender was unable to start a gasoline backup engine that would enable him to lower the bridge allowing safe train passage. Neither Morrow or the bridge tender knew that the automatic derailer located about two miles from the bridge, which is supposed to automatically derail any oncoming trains when the bridge is raised, was not working.
"When engineer Morrow and his brakeman, William E. Smith approached the bridge at full speed late that Sunday night, they saw that the bridge was in raised position and applied the train’s emergency brakes, but, by then, it was too late. The two engines and 16 cars plunged into the Intracoastal canal. Morrow and Smith, who were both in the lead engine, were buried beneath the other cars in 30-35 feet of water. Fortunately, none of the train cars contained chemicals or other dangerous cargo."
[In addition to the gas engine and derail failure, the railroad's signalling sysem had a big failure. It should have been fail safe and not provided a green signal if the lift span was not properly locked in the down position.]

D&S Marine Service posted 1:29 video
M/V Darian Alexandra passing through the Morely Railroad Bridge.
...


Aban/NYC/Kankakee Belt/II&I Bridge over Yellow River in Knox, IN

(Satellite)

Street View, Aug 2023

7 of 16 photos posted  by Austin Sasse with the comment: "Spanning the Yellow river in Knox, IN., this former New York Central right if way was once part of the Kankakee Belt Line, originally constructed by the Chicago Indiana & Southern. Immediately SW of the bridge is a small display honoring the towns railroad history." 
Locomotive Jordan: Actually originally part of the 3 - I's, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana Rwy.
Tim Shanahan shared
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Saturday, June 7, 2025

1966 112mw Beaver Dam on White River near Eureka Springs, AR

(Satellite)

In addition to the usual functions of flood control and hydropower, this dam provides water for the surrounding communities.

Street View, Jan 2024

USACE
"The watershed basin for Beaver Lake covers 1186 miles [I presume they meant square miles.] (759,040 acres) and there are 449 miles of shoreline at the top of the conservation pool (1120’ m.s.l)."

I could find only information on the reservoir on the USACE page, but this reference provides information on the dam itself.
"The 2,575-foot-long dam consists of a 1,333-foot-long concrete section keyed into a limestone bluff, 1,242 feet of earth and rock embankment, and three small earth and rock dikes that fill gaps between adjacent hills. The spillway section is 328 feet long. Maximum height of the dam above the streambed is 228 feet. Mean depth is fifty-eight feet, and the maximum depth is 216 feet. The structure contains 780,000 cubic yards of concrete and 1.6 million yards of rock and dirt embankment. Storage capacity is 1.95 million acre-feet, which includes flood control storage. At full conservation pool, or normal managed lake level, the reservoir covers 28,200 acres with a shoreline of 449 miles. The mean hydraulic retention time (the time it takes for water to cycle through the reservoir) is one and a half years....The construction and maintenance of Beaver Dam has not been without technical challenges. A large cavern a few hundred feet upstream of the dam site was discovered during initial excavation work and was filled with 200 cubic yards of grout material. The earth embankment also rests on the Price Mountain fault line, and the dam underwent seepage repairs from 1989 to 1994 at a cost of about $33.5 million." [EncylopediaOfArkansas]

Four construction photos on the USACE page.
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M Yu, Sep 2024

Shannon Becker, May 2022

1:19 video @ 0:43

The powerhouse had two 56mw units.
12:22 video @ 10:56

12:22 video @ 11:15

May 2025 Flood:
Facebook Reel

SP+Santa Fe Tehachapi Loop and 1918 Tunnel #10

Loop: (Satellite)
#10: (Satellite)

TripAdvisor
Tehachapi Loop

TripAdvisor
Tunnel 10 at Tehachapi Loop - Picture of Tehachapi Loop

The portal has a build date of 1918. [zyxcreative]

I'm not surprised there was a stringlined derailment because a light freight car was placed before a heavy load. But what caught my eye is that a well car was able to flip over a locomotive. Some comments indicate that the locomotives were mid-train helpers. The S-curve didn't help.
Locomotive Trails posted
String lined train derailment Burlington Northern Santa Fe train in Tehachapi.
📸 Amy Miller 

1966/67 Keene Quad @ 24,000

This source taught me that Tunnel #10 was the one east of the loop. And the S-curve on the topo map is consistent with the above photos.
svchistory, c1878

Friday, June 6, 2025

1949 Bluestone Dam on New River near Bellepoint, WV

(Satellite)

Street View, Jun 2024


Street View, Aug 2021

Facebook Reel

They are building a stilling basin with reinforced concrete and baffles. A study had determined that the "natural rock stilling basin" was not strong enough to handle a strong flow from the crest gates. They had already done construction from 2000 to 2019 to increase the spillway capacity. The basin construction should be completed in 2019. [dvidshub]
Narendra Sharma, Jul 2022

USACE, Bluestone Lake posted
Good Afternoon !
At 1230 May 23rd 2025, the lake is 10 feet above summer pool with an elevation of 1420.46. At the present time we have all 7 available sluice gates open with a discharge of 13,929 cubic feet per second (cfs). The lake and tailwaters are cloudy. The New River at Hinton, WV is 4.24 feet moving at 15,919 cfs. The Greenbrier River at Alderson, WV is 3.76 feet; which is 0.76 feet above normal and cloudy. The Bluestone River at Pipestem, WV is 4.46 feet. The high temperature for the last 24 hours was 70, the low was 51, and the current temperature is 58 degrees. Precipitation for the past 24 hours was a 0 inches. The tailwater temperature reading on May 18th was 62 degrees.
The pit area currently closed. 
Stay Safe!

dvidshub, Story and Photo by Josh Bennett, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District
Bluestone Dam stands strong against Helene
"In 1998, a Dam Safety Assurance Evaluation Report was approved leading to the modernization of Bluestone Dam and addressed the two major concerns at the time: overtopping and sliding....The overtopping concern was addressed by creating an auxiliary spillway using the existing penstocks, allowing Bluestone Dam to pass more water than before. The sliding concern was reduced by installing anchors that tie the structure into the rock foundation, helping Bluestone Dam to hold more water. This work was accomplished between 2000 and 2019 after several construction projects."

USACE, Bluestone Lake posted
"Debris building up near Bluestone Dam as high-water from Hurricane Helene finds its way downstream."

USACE, Huntington District posted
Bluestone Dam Stands Tall During Recent Flooding
A recent band of devastating rain and snowstorms that affected communities in Southern West Virginia, Southwestern Virginia and Eastern Kentucky required the Huntington District to increase its operational response to manage water releases and minimize flood risks throughout the New and Kanawha River basins. 
Bluestone Dam stored a significant wave of water, releasing this storage in a manner that minimized flooding along the New and Kanawha Rivers. 
Bluestone Lake crested against Bluestone Dam on 18 Feb 2025 at 1500 at an elevation of 1485.09 feet (the 6th highest pool of record) utilizing 52% of its storage capacity. Bluestone Dam reduced flooding in combination with Summersville and Sutton Lakes along New and Kanawha Rivers.  At Hinton, Bluestone Dam reduced flooding by about 5 feet. At Kanawha Falls, Bluestone Dam in conjunction with Summersville Dam reduced flooding by about 7 feet. At Charleston, flooding was reduced by all three dams by over 6 feet. With the projected storm, Bluestone Lake will stay above winter pool for the next couple weeks.
During this time Bluestone Dam performed as designed although the lake will be at an elevated position from its winter pool (1406 feet) for several weeks. These flood waters brought a large debris field to Bluestone Lake, so boaters are reminded to be aware of and stay back from for their safety.

USACE, Bluestone Lake posted
[In the 21st Century, I can't believe that they use baffles rather than horizontal Kaplan run-of-river turbines to remove the energy from the water flow.]

USACE Master Plan
 
issuu

USACE. this is a detailed history of the dam.
Historic photograph of a whirler crane used at Bluestone Dam. (Final Report, 1949)

Big Four and Erie Bridges over Olentangy River in Caledonia, OH

Big Four: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic BridgesSatellite, the southern bridge)

Street View, Sep 2023

Bill Edrington posted three photo with the comment:
The through truss bridges of the Big Four (right) and the Erie (left) still stand side-by-side over the Olentangy River at Caledonia, Ohio.  The two railroads operated their parallel lines as joint double track (dispatched by the Erie/EL) between Burt (Galion) and Marion for many years.  Both tracks became Conrail property on April 1, 1976, and CR eventually single-tracked the line, removing most of the Erie main, as seen here.  This is officially CSX's Mount Victory Subdivision today, but to me, it'll always be the Bee Line.
Bruce Bridges: The only truss bridge on the entire route from Cleveland to St. Louis! Everything else is concrete arches or deck plate girders.
Bill Edrington: Bruce Bridges - You're right, at least since the time of the PC merger in 1968, when the ex-PRR was designated as the main line west of Terre Haute. The Big Four's Cleveland-St. Louis main via Mattoon and Pana did have two other through truss bridges in modern times, over the Wabash River at Terre Haute and over Cahokia Creek near Gard, Illinois. Both still exist; the former is now used by the Decatur & Eastern Illinois; the latter by the UP's Pana Subdivision.
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HistoricBridges_Erie
This lattice truss is a "quadruple instersection Warren truss." [HistoricBridges_Big_Four]