Sunday, October 26, 2025

CSX/C&O Gauley Bridges over New River at Gauley Junction, WV

1905: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges)

1905 Deck Truss Bridge


The Hawks Nest Powerhouse is in the left background.
Postcard via BridgeHunter_1905

Anantkumar Anantkumar posted
Gauley Junction at Gauley Bridge, WV 1910.

Scott Greathouse, Sep 2024


2011 Steel Girder Bridge


I wonder how deep those girders are. And which steel mill can roll the plates needed to fabricate them.
Street View, Oct 2015

This photo provides another view of the Hawks Nest Powerhouse.
2016 photo by Royce and Bobette Haley via BridgeHunter_2011

Saturday, October 25, 2025

1968 David D Terry Lock and Dam (#6) on Arkansas River downstream of Little Rock, AR

(Satellite)

EncyclopediaOfArkansas
"Aerial view of the David D. Terry Lock and Dam near Scott (Pulaski and Lonoke Counties)."

Street View, Jan 2023

The above street view made me realize that the entire lock chamber is on the downstream side of the dam.
Satellite

2:00 video
Discover the history and beauty of the Terry Lock and Dam
Construction began in 1965 and was completed in 1968.

Even though this has bad resolution, it still has a lot of information.
@ 0:13


April 2025 Flood


Little Rock District, USACE posted four photos with the comment:
David D. Terry Lock and Dam April 8, 2025
The Little Rock District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered a loose barge lodged against David D. Terry Lock and Dam near Little Rock, Arkansas during an inspection this morning. 
The dam is operating as intended. Initial assessments indicate the barge struck the dam with force, possibly causing minor damage; however, there are no signs of structural failure. 
The barge is positioned in front of gates 15 and 16. Gate 15 is currently blocked, and flows through gate 16 are restricted.
The barge likely broke loose upstream in Pool 6 during the ongoing high-water event. The exact origin and time of impact are unknown.
The Little Rock District is coordinating with the towing industry, the Little Rock Port Authority, and the Coast Guard to identify the barge’s owner.
Alex Bice: Barge doesn’t look like it’s been used for a long time. Looks likes it’s been upside down in the mud.
James Bush: Alex Bice it sure is bad rusty, maybe the flood waters washed it out from somewhere. Very well could been submerged for a while.
1

2

3

4

0:42 video
At the time of this video, the flow of 160kcfs was keeping the barge in place. Engineers are working on a plan to operate the gates to keep pressure on the barge as the flows go down.

dvidshub

This is a better view of the hydraulic jump.

Missouri Pacific and St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Maps


This would be before they acquired the western part of the C&EI that allowed them to run trains to Chicago. (L&N got the eastern part.) At least some some of the tendrils into southern Illinois were to access coal mines.
Tyler Savvy posted
Missouri Pacific Railroad: Map, Locomotives, Logo, History
Dennis Ransone: Joint trackage from Pueblo to Denver.

But it looks like it had acquired the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern.
cartweb


Friday, October 24, 2025

1966 161mw Dardanelle (#10) Lock and Dam on Arkansas River near Dardanelle, AR

(Satellite)

Street View, Apr 2014

Mark Pettus, Apr 2022

Yazoo River Towing posted
M/V Melvin L. King moving through Lock 10 on the Arkansas River. 
📸 Michael Irby
Ellis Williams: This was my favorite boat when I worked for J. O. It had catapillar's then triple screw.
[A retractable towboat with triple screws had to be rare. Triple screws are normally for long haul on the Lower Mississippi while retractable towboats are generally for local movements in urban areas where some of the movable bridges no longer move. (e.g. Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal)]

I could not find any useful USACE web pages for this L&D. But they had a spillway gate stuck in the open position on Aug 19, 2025, during routine maintenance and that caused some images to show up on the web.
2:00 video @ 1:43
Repairs underway on stuck spillway gate at Dardanelle dam on the Arkansas River
In this report on Aug 21, 2025, USACE still didn't know what the problem was. Tows on Dardanelle Lake have been sent upstream to the next pool and boat ramps have been shut down.
"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the gate may be stuck due to friction, heat expansion, or mechanical binding."

The gate was closed later on Aug 21. It got repaired before the Arkansas Nuclear One power plant had to shut down because of a lack of cooling water.
0:57 video via THV11
"Our teams have been working all day to free the stuck gate," said Little Rock District Public Affairs Officer, Jay Townsend. "We've tried several different methods and have brought in additional equipment and personnel to help....Repair crews then went on to apply 'special lubricants' and used wrenches [winches] from crane barges to attempt to pull the gate down. "

This shows the equipment on the upstream side that they brought in to help close the gate. It also shows a big hydraulic jump.
4029tv

4029tv
The flow is 40kcfs.

The is a better view of the repair equipment.
4029tv

The powerhouse has four Kaplan turbine units, each of which is 40mw. [power-technology]

I could not find a decent USACE webpage for this dam, so I don't know what the lift of the lock is. Judging from a satellite image, the size of the lock is 600' x 110'.



c1890+1944,1983 US-1+US-2, Pedestrian and ATV Bridges over Meduxnekeag River in Houlton, ME

c1890: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)
1944: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)
1890 Footbridge:  (Archived Bridge Hunter link is broken; Bridge Hunter)
Replacement Footbridge: (Satellite)

c1890 Bridge


Bridges Now and Then posted
Bridge in Houlton, Maine, 1940. (No photo credit found)

Patrick O'Donnell commented on the above post
Reminds me of this well preserved fine specimen in the Avis and Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania vicinity over the Pine Creek.
Art Suckewer: Patrick O'Donnell The Maine one is a shorter but wider version by the same company. The Jersey Shore bridge is the ultra long Warren truss (diagonal) internal structure version (I think one of four remaining).

BridgeHunter_c1890

1944 Bridge


Postcard via BridgeHunter_1944

Pedestrian Bridges


The lenticular truss bridge is in the background.
BridgeHunter_1890

Replacement Footbridge. Maine is aggressive in using wood as a construction material.
Street View, May 2019

Street View, May 2019

 Joseph Scarano, Aug 2018

ATV Bridge


Street View, Sep 2011

Patrick Crawford, Dec 2020

Thursday, October 23, 2025

"Crosby's Ditch," Old Stone Mill, Quaker Oats and 1932 Cascade Race in Akron, OH

Diversion Dam: (Satellite)
Old Stone Mill: (Satellite)

uakron
In 1832, Dr. Crosby completed his Old Stone Mill at Lock #5. As part of that construction, he built a diversion dam on the Little Cuyahoga River and a mill race (Crosby's Ditch) along the river and then south on Main Street and west on Mill Street to his mill.

I added a red line near the lower-right corner where the river was close to the 1000' contour line to show about where I think the diversion dam was. Note that the river bent south back then. The dam was located near today's Goodyear Headquarters. The mill race would have gone below the 1000' contour line to the north and then west. That area would have been wilderness in 1832 so he didn't have to worry about streets or houses being in the way. Because of 8th Ave. and the railroad tracks near the dam, I think it was about here. The yellow circle near the upper-left corner on this topo map marks the location of the mill. The mill was south of the intersection of Ash and Mill Streets and just east of Lock #5.
1903 Akron and 1906 Kent Quads @ 62,500 plus Paint

The 1000' contour line is the one crossing Main Street near Furnace Street. So the mill race headed down Main Street to Mill Street near today's Courtyard by Marriot.
1903 Akron Quad @ 62,500


Note that the mill became the F. Schumacher Mill.
Locks 3-14 via RailsAndTrails

He was known as The Oatmeal King. He was born in Germany and introduced America to oatmeal. He kept building bigger mills, and his company became part of Quaker Oats. The mill buildings at Mill Street and Broadway were the last mill he built. Quaker Oats moved out of Akron in 1970. [wikitree]
ebay

If you access the Locks 3-14 reference, you can see how millraces were built along the Ohio & Erie Canal to harness the power of Dr. Crosby's water as the water continued to flow along the Cascade Locks. This was called the Cascade Race.
On the way down the Cascade Race, the water " turned the water wheels of several flour mills, a woolen mill, a furniture factory, five iron furnaces, a distillery, and other early Akron industries." [uakron]

This video talks about the Cascade Race starting at this screenshot. (I think the Cascade Race started at the tailrace of the Old Stone Mill. But this is probably the start of visible remnants of that race.)
34:51 video @ 3:10

Street View, May 2024

The information stand near the center of the above view contains the historical marker: "Dynamics of Change in Cascade Locks Park." The following information is from that marker.
hmdb
Dynamics of Change in Cascade Locks Park Marker
The caption on the photo is "Cascade Valley 1882."
Completion of the Cascade Locks provided transportation through the steepest change in elevation along the Ohio & Erie Canal. The trip through 15 locks in a single mile took up to half a day. As a result, saloons, brothels, hotels and stores like Mustill's emerged to cater to passengers during their layover. This was the beginning of the rise of Akron.
The dramatic change in height also provided immense water power that led local inventors and businessmen to harness that energy through a separate waterway called the Cascade Race, which powered multiple mills along its path.
Although water power gave birth to industrial growth in Akron, it did not stand as the primary source of power. Evolution to steam and then electric power continues to shape Cascade Locks Park. Throughout your journey up the Cascade Locks, look for evidence of the dynamics of change through this important piece of our past.
Timeline of Cascade Locks
Our industrial history and evolution of power
1826 - 1827 Construction of the Cascade Locks
1832 Cascade Race
1838 Aetna Mill
1850s Mustill House & Store
1876 Schumacher's Cascade Mills
1880 Valley Railway
1912 American Tire & Rubber
1913 Great Flood
1927 Akron Steam Heating Company

And over by the fence along the trail in the above street view is this marker.
hmdb
When Flour was Power Marker
 The completion of the Ohio & Erie Canal triggered Akron's first economic boom in the 1830s. Paralleling the canal, the Cascade Race supplied water power to many mills, including Ferdinand Schumacher's Cascade Mills, which ground wheat into flour. Canal boats transported flour and other agricultural products north to Cleveland and south to Portsmouth. From there, other boats completed the journey to hungry markets in New York or as far south as New Orleans.
Did you know here at Lock 14, the millstones in Schumacher's Cascade Mills were turned by a giant waterwheel 35 feet in diameter? As big as a Ferris wheel, its iron buckets were filled from the top by water flowing from a dam high on the Cascade Race.


For future research: This is the beginning of a tunnel that ends just below Lock #15.
34:51 video @ 4:18


Limbo/UP/D&RGW Tennessee Pass Tunnel North of Leadville, CO

North (West) Portal: (Satellite)
South (East) Portal: (Satellite)

I labeled this route as "Limbo" because someone wanted to buy it, but UP refused to sell it even though they have designated it as out of service. This route was made obsolete by the Moffat Tunnel.

South (East) Portal:
Richard Crabtree posted
On Tennessee Pass
Here we see Denver & Rio Grande Western No. 5744 EMD F7A (1950) on the point of her train at Tennessee Pass
Tennessee Pass, Colorado
August 13 1966
Photo Al Chione
Earle Kittleman: This is on the Minturn side. Correct?
[Minturn is a town that is north of the pass.]
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad shared with the comment: "A spectacular shot."
Tim Fornstrom: Cool. A friend ran helpers out of Minturn until they closed Tennessee Pass. He's an engineer on the California Zephyr now. I was in Vail on a ski trip and took a day to chase trains on the pass not long before it was shut down.

North (West) Portal:
Chris Nuthall commented on Earle's comment
No, that goes straight into a left hand curve as you leave the tunnel.

Kevin Rodriquez, Mar 2025

Rich B, Oct 2024

Note how US-24 was able to climb up along the side of a mountain on the south side of the pass but had to wiggle back and forth to quickly descend into the Piney Creek Valley.
1951/51 Holy Cross Quad @ 62,500

I had to zoom way out to determine the timetable (east/west) directions.
1957/78 Leadville Quad @ 250,000