C&O Canal Lock #44 and Lockhouse in Williamsport, MD

Lock: (Satellite)

Lockhouse: (Satellite)

C&O Canal Overview

Looking downstream (towards Washington DC).

Trail View, Apr 2016
Dennis DeBruler commented on the post below

This is one of the few lockhouses that have been preserved, https://maps.app.goo.gl/Q8dk3s2YCdvoP53e8.

Metrotrails posted
Historic 1919 view of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Lock 44 in Williamsport Maryland, with lock tender and family, identified as Harvey Brant.

Codie Volkert: How long did the C&O canal run for?

Metrotrails: Codie Volkert till 1924. This section opened 1833.

Judging by the scale on this map, it looks like the lock could handle a 14' x 80' canal boat.

Satellite

1850-1924 C&O Canal Overview

I've come across enough C&O Canal artifacts that it is time for an overview.

CanalTrust

The significance of this connection ["between the coalfields of the Allegheny Mountains and the urban markets at the upper reaches of the Chesapeake Bay"] was first appreciated by George Washington, who spent much of his private life surveying and speculating on land in the Potomac headwaters. He knew that linking the Potomac to the Forks of the Ohio (present-day Pittsburgh) would connect the young, coastal nation to the vast resources of the continental interior.

Though construction began in 1828, the canal wasn’t completed until 1850, several years after the B&O Railroad had already reached Cumberland. The canal couldn’t compete with rail in terms of speed or capacity, and so it was nearly obsolete from the time of its opening. Only bulk commodities, like lumber, wheat and especially coal, ever depended to any large extent on the canal for access to markets. Nevertheless, the canal operated (with only occasional interruptions in the wake of especially devastating floods) until 1924 when a damaging flood destroyed it beyond repair. People continued to live in cabins and shanties along the canal for another 45 years, until the national park was established in 1971. The canal’s transportation history is particularly evident along the stretch from Seneca to Georgetown where the National Park Service (NPS) has made an effort to keep it watered.

[CanalTrust]

nps

npmaps_upper_detail

npmaps_lower_detail

npmaps_upper_simple

npmaps_lower_simple

nps_components
1: aqueducts
2: canal prism (This page has some details about the construction of the canal including the legal battle with the B&O Railroad concerning "the right-of-way from Point of Rocks to Harpers Ferry.")
3: lockhouse
4: lift lock - boat elevator
"There are 74 locks in total! You may say, "But there is a lock named Lock 75!" And that is because Lock 65 doesn't exist. When the canal was constructed they realized that they didn't need to build a Lock 65. The builders found it was too much work to change the name of every lock after 65 in the paperwork."
The average lift was 8' (2.4m) and the max lift was 10' (3m).

GeorgetownHeritage
Congress wanted to fill in the canal and create a parkway for automobiles. But preservationists objected and The Canal was designated a National Historical Park in 1971.

Judging by the scale on this map, it looks like the locks could handle a 14' x 80' canal boat.

Satellite via Lock #44

Canal artifacts that I have noted:

• Aqueduct over Monocacy River
• Diversion Dam #4
• Western Maryland Bridge in Williamsport, MD
• Lock #44 in Williamsport, MD
• The prism in  Hancock, MD
• Paw Paw Tunnel

1859 Cheasapeak and Albermarle Canal (Intercoastal Waterway) and Great Bridge Lock & C&A/NS Bridge

Virginia Cut: (Satellite, between Elizabeth and North Landing Rivers.)

North Caroline Cut: (Satellite, between Coinjock Bay and North River.)

Lock: (Satellite)

Bridge: (Satellite)

The lock is more of a guard lock; that is, it doesn't have a lot of lift. The boat on the right is in the lock. On the right side of this view, we get a glimpse of a boat in the lock.

Street View, Aug 2023

carolana

The lock is "a reversible guard lock with double gates at each end of a 220-foot long chamber....The guard lock, reconditioned in 1973 and floored, is unique since it handles alternate heads of water from west and east in the tidal Elizabeth River and fresh water from the North Landing River." [carolana]

Satellite

1902/23 Norfolk Quad @ 125,000

The 75 mile canal had to cut through just 14 miles of land. "The Virginia cut was 8.45 miles long, and the North Carolina cut was 5.6 miles long....The United States government acquired the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal in 1912 and improved it, first eliminating the guard lock, then in 1932 replacing it with the present six hundred (600) foot steel and concrete guard lock. The channel was dredged and maintained for a twelve (12) foot draft. Covering a distance of almost two hundred (200) miles from Norfolk, VA to Beaufort, NC, the waterway varies in bottom width from ninety (90) feet in land cuts to three hundred (300) feet in open waters. Between 1970 and 1979, commerce on the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal portion of the Intracoastal Waterway averaged roughly 1.4 million tons annually." [carolana]

The bridge was built by the original Norfolk Southern, not today's NS. The bridge is now owned by the Chesapeake & Albemarie Railroad.

1 of 6 photos posted by Tom Blair, cropped
Took the skiff out for a bit today.  Went out in the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal (Intercoastal Waterway).  This is the NS drawbridge over the canal, still used today by the Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad

Some of the views do show it is used by commercial traffic. For example:

Street View, May 2018

A train must be close to the bridge because the bridge is not in the raised position.

Street View, Mar 2023

Three UP Bridges over Mojave River in Afton Canyon

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

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

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

All of the length information comes from the appropriate Archived Bridge Hunter webpages.

West

You don't have to worry about vegetation blocking your view in this area.

Street View, Jan 2024

Length of largest span: 178.0 ft.

Total length: 380.0 ft.

Middle

Street View, Jan 2024

Apr 2010 Photo by Craig Philpott via ArchivedBridgeHunter_middle

Length of largest span: 184.0 ft.

Total length: 328.0 ft.

East

Paul Jansson posted
Union Pacific's truss bridge over the Mojave River near the east end of Afton Canyon, just a few hundred yards west of W. Basin siding.  9/29/2012

Street View, Jan 2024

Length of largest span: 178.0 ft.

Total length: 370.0 ft.

I-69 Ohio River Crossing Bridge at Evansville + Henderson

(Satellite, construction of the bridge is planned for 2027-31.)

To avoid the stigma of a "bridge to nowhere," they are first going to build roads to nowhere in Kentucky and then in Indiana.

i69ohiorivercrossing_maps

I could not find a rendering of the bridge so I don't know if it will be a cable-stayed or tied-arch bridge. But given the recent track record for Ohio River birdges, it will probably be another cable-stayed bridge.

Pedestrian Bridge over Bladder Dam on Temp Town Lake (Salt River) in Tempe, AZ

(Archived Bridge Hunter, broken link; Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

Marko R, Sep 2014

BridgeHunter calls this a basket-handle through arch. But I believe in a regular basket-handle bridge, the arches just touch at the top rather than crossover each other.

BridgeHunter, 2014 photo by Royce and Bobette Haley

Dwayne Ratleff posted
Bridge on the Salt River Arizona.

Dennis DeBruler: Which town is in the background?

Carolyn Susor: Dennis DeBruler Tempe

Dennis DeBruler: Carolyn Susor Thanks. Found it: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ePcdnSMjSLvbo4oh7

tylin, Credit: Tom Paiva Photography

The above photo, which is older, reminded me of the 1999 inflatable rubber bladder dam that was replaced in 2016 by a gated dam.

water-quality

"Two Manitowoc 3100 series 2 cranes, with 180 feet of cable each, were used to lift the four assembled 87.5-ton bridge structures onto its bearing locations." [tylin]

4:04 video @ 0:20

The bridge was built over the bladder dam.

@ 0:36

This view catches the crossed-arch design particularly well.

@ 1:56

Third Welland Canal Spillway Gate (The Rush or The Showers)

(Satellite)

Ron Dekker posted
Here we have a popular Summer destination back when I was a kid.  Been decades since I've been anywhere near it - and I don't know if the public still has access to it.  This is what I think is called the Spillway Gate on the Third Welland Canal.
[Several comments referred to it as The Rush or The Showers.]
According to some comments, gates now prevent driving there, but one can still walk there. But one is no longer supposed to walk in the outflow.]

Jon Lawrence commented on Ron's post
This was when they drain the reservoir up top. Only seen it happen once.

This is the reservoir to which Jon is reffering. It inundates locks 20-22.

Satellite

3:10 drone video of the structure

CSX/Clinchfield Bridge over Nolichuncky River near Poplar, NC

(Satellite)

I looked in Yancy, Mitchell and Avery counties in Bridge Hunter, but I could not find this bridge.

When Hurricane Helene wiped out most of the Clinchfield route, I read quite a few comments on Facebook wondering if CSX would bother to rebuild the route. It looks like they are rebuilding the route.

Ron Flanary posted
This is a screenshot from the latest Designs in Orbit YouTube video update on the rebuilding of the former Clinchfield. The bridge at Poplar, NC is now finished with panel track in place. CSX salvaged most of the old spans by fishing them out of the river, repairing and reinforcing, and fabricating new approaches on either side. The piers were also reused but with new concrete added. This work is a triumph of superior engineering technology and modern construction techniques. Well done!
J.B. Rail Photog shared

1939/39 Huntdale Quad @ 24,000

Google Earth, May 2024

Google Earth, Dec 2024

Why was a mountain top scraped off?

Google Earth, Apr 2024

2015 Soekarno Bridge over the harbor in Manado, Indoneasia

(Satellite)

The bridge is 1,127m long and was inaugurated in May 2015 after 12 years of neglect. [dreamstime]

Bridges Of The World posted
Soekarno Bridge, Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesien
Bridges Of The World shared

It looks like it has an observation tower at the top.

Street View, Dec 2023

But it would be tricky to put an elevator in one of those tower legs.

Street View, Dec 2023

This is not a particularly good view of the bridge, but I saved it because I was surprised to see the English word "Restroom" without a corresponding word(s) from the native language.

Street View, Mar 2018

1887-1948,1989 Trail/UP/Boise, Nampa & Owyhee Guffey Railroad Bridge over Snake River south of Melba, ID

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

"Built 1897, abandoned by railroad in 1948; saved from demolition in the 1970s; purchased & restored by Canyon County in 1989." [BridgeHunter]

"After the section of railroad south of the river was abandoned, Guffey Bridge was sold to Owyhee County for $1 in 1948.  Owyhee County sold it to the Idaho Historical Society in the 1970s.  Canyon County purchased the bridge in 1989 to include it in what later became Celebration Park.  The bridge has been refurbished so that pedestrians, equestrians, and bicyclists can use it to cross the Snake River.  The Guffey Bridge is the state’s largest historic artifact and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978." [endurance]

Trail View, Sep 2023

RRAdventures posted four photos with the comment: "Boise, Nampa and Owyhee Railroad."

1

2

3

4

It looks like it has pin connections.

Trail View, Sep 2023