Abandoned/NYC Swing Bridge over Tonawanda Creek (Eric Canal) at Tonawanda, NY

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

This is the first time I have seen trees on a bridge!

Street View, Oct 2020

John Kucko Digital posted

The Erie Canal at 200 (#36):  Continuing my weekly series here on the page commemorating the bicentennial of the iconic Erie Canal.  A VERY cool spot along the Erie Canal is located near Buffalo between Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, NY right near the mouth of the canal.  The old New York Central Railroad swing bridge is located in the middle of the historic waterway.  It was built in 1892 and remain in use until the late 1960’s.  This was used by trains back in the day as they crossed the canal here.  The bridge provided a clear path for boats and barges to pass, and the bridge would then swing back into place, allowing trains to cross. Swing bridges were important  infrastructure for both railway and canal traffic to coexist, with the canal requiring uninterrupted navigation and the railroad requiring a stable, crossing path.  I captured the Russian wooden vessel, circumnavigating the world, passing by the bridge five years ago there.  

    In June of 2023, a state grant of $136,000 was awarded, part of revitalization funding, for a scenic overlook in this area. Folks using the popular canal path to hike and bike will have a nice area to view the swing bridge and learn of its history.  This is a neat little spot along our historic Erie Canal.

Bill Redemske: When I was a kid,I remember that bridge enabled rail service to a large Continental Can Co. factory,at what was once called Goose Island,long backfilled to the main land when the Erie Canal was truncated at the Niagara River years ago......one of the navigational marker lights from the pier of that bridge is now at the railroad museum in North Tonawanda....

Mike Hoodmaker commented on John's post
John here’s an up close picture of that bridge. We keep our boat at a marina nearby.

Jeff Morgan commented on John's post, cropped
Here's a view when RR trains still used it.

2016 Photo by Royce and Bobette Haley via BridgeHunter

2016 Photo by Royce and Bobette Haley via BridgeHunter

There are a lot of detail photos of the bridge on BridgeHunter.

This topo map shows the original Erie Canal that created Goose Island.  The bottom part of today's Niagara Shore Drive was built on the canal's right-of-way. This bridge was on an industrial spur to serve Continental Can and some other industries that were on Goose Island. Those industries lasted until the 1960s. I suspect that there was a diversion dam on the Tonawanda Creek under the bridge that was just downstream of Ellicott Creek. The Erie Canal used the Tonawanda Creek until it got to that dam. So, the bridge was not over the Erie Canal back then. Was the canal from Ellicott Creek west to the main canal a branch that allowed more industries to be built along a canal?

1901/09 Tonawanda Quad @ 62,500

By 1950, the original Erie Canal channel had been filled in, and the canal used the Niagara River to get to Buffalo. Also, NYC built a connector from its route coming from the south to its route coming from the east so that they could share the Strauss Trunnion Bridge that still exists.

1950/50 Tonawanda West and East Quads @ 24,000

1903+2025 W&LE/N&W/P&WV/Wabash Overpass over OH-7 and Coen Tunnel

Overpass: (Satellite)

Coen Tunnel: (Satellite)

P&WV = Pittsburgh & West Virginia

Street View, Oct 2023

W&LE posted a video of the replacement of the spans for this bridge. Here are three screenshots from that video. They made a big deal about laying new track each day so that trains could run during the night. But since there were two independent tracks, I don't see why they just couldn't run on the other side.

Reshard Boyer shared

Mark Adamcik: It is good that the W&LE has rebuilt the bridge with both tracks intact

1
This is one of the views that taught me about Coen Tunnel, which is just west of this overpass.

2
The center of this view shows the old span being trucked away. 

3
In the distance, we see the bridge over the Ohio River.

The video opens with a westbound train on that bridge.

4

Coen Tunnel:

Tom Fitzgerald 0:40 video

The W&LE had a couple more short tunnels west of here (Adams and Fellows), but the Pennsy had a longer tunnel (unnamed, near the top-left corner).

1958/59 Steubenville West and 1968/78 Steubenville East Quads @ 24,000

Sep 2025 Update: the new bridge is done.

This shows the placement of the last new span.

Facebook Reel

1887+1899+1914+1971+2023 Gaysport Bridge over Muskingum river at Gaysport, OH

1887: (Archived Bridge Hunter)

1889: (Archived Bridge Hunter)

1914: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)

1971: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

1887 Bridge

This bridge had three covered bridge spans and one pony truss swing span. The covered spans were destroyed by a storm within a couple of years of completion. [ArchivedBridgeHunter_1887]

1889 Bridge

"Built 1889 by Smith Bridge Co.; destroyed in 1913 flood" [ArchivedBridgeHunter_1889]

This source disagrees with ArchivedBridgeHunter_1889 concerning the completion date. This source says it was built a decade later. I'm assuming 1899 was a typo. In fact, the Facebook parent post states: "The first bridge was a covered structure erected in 1887 which only lasted for about one year." But they also say: "In 1899 a steel bridge was built which lasted until the 1913 Flood."

Muskingum County History posted via ArchivedBridgeHunter_1889
The Pratt through truss bridge over the Muskingum River at Gaysport which stood from 1899-1913 as it appeared in 1908. The bridge was lengthened in 1904 due to a widening of the river channel. That might explain the pony truss section in the foreground (but we are always open to suggestions).

1914 Bridge

This source also indicates that the bridge was replaced a decade after the covered bridge was destroyed. So I changed the title from 1889 to 1899, but I kept 1889 in the Bridge Hunter references.

1971 Photo by The Times Recorder via BridgeHunter_1914

"It appears that the simple Pratt through and pony spans from the 1889 structure survived the 1913 flood and were reused for the 1914 bridge." [ArchivedBridgeHunter_1914]

Muskingum County History posted
The Muskingum River bridge at Gaysport which stood from 1914-1971.

Muskingum County History posted
A wide view of the Muskingum River bridge at Gaysport. The photo is undated but is likely from 1970 or 1971. The span on the far left looks like a swing span, something we hadn't realized until viewing this photo.

1971 Bridge

Jeff Shroyer posted
Gaysport, OH over the Muskingum River on what were piers of a prior bridge.
Jeff Shryer shared
Muskingum Co OH:  4 span bridge at Gaysport, OH.  This pony truss was built in 1970 and sits on river piers built for a nineteenth century covered bridge.  The bridge has since been replaced.

Muskingum County History posted
The current [posted Sep 25, 2020] Warren polygonal chord pony truss bridge over the Muskingum River at Gaysport as it appeared in November 1971.

Photo by Janis Ford via BridgeHunter_1971

2020 Photo by Jeff Shroyer via BridgeHunter_1971

2024 Bridge

It looks like they retained the 1887 piers, but they reinforced the bases. And it looks like a steel-girder bridge.

Street View, Apr 2025

It officially opened in the first month of 2024, 11 months ahead of schedule. It cost $7.25m. The 1971 bridge was made of weathering steel. That is why it lasted only 50 years. The 2024 bridge is made with galvanized steel and is expected to last 75-80 years. [whiznews]

Street View, Aug 2023

galvanizeit
It actually opened in Nov 2023. The sandstone piers were reused because federal funding required it.
[This webpage provides a nice summary.]
"The Gaysport Bridge in southern Muskingum County has had four bridges at this location: the first bridge was a wooden covered structure erected in 1887 which lasted one year. The second bridge was a steel bridge which was built in 1899 and lasted until the 1913 flood. The third bridge which spanned the river from 1914 to 1971 was a through truss bridge. The fourth bridge was a steel bridge built in 1971 and lasted until 2021, the last number of years it was reduced to a one-lane bridge. The fifth bridge was just built and opened in November of this year [2023]."

mtboats has several photos of the bridges.

CSX added flood wall to the Clinchfield rebuild along the North Toe River

When Hurricane Helene wiped out most of the Clinchfield route in late September 2014, I read quite a few comments on Facebook wondering if CSX would bother to rebuild the route. They did rebuild it.

Dan Gurley posted six photos with the comment: "Views of the new flood wall being installed along the CSX Blue Ridge Subdivision. The structure begins at Pigeon Roost Creek and runs north along NC 197 to where the highway crosses the tracks to go to Poplar. The flood wall then continues north along Huntdale Rd. most of the way to the community of Huntdale. The line suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Helene and is still undergoing extensive repairs nearly a year later. CSX plans to reopen the line to through service in the early fall. Look closely at the trestle in the second pic and you still see Clinchfield Railroad spelled out."

Dan Gurley shared

1

2

3

David Pressley: Still boggles the mind how much vegetation is simply...... gone.

Dan Gurley: David Pressley I know, right. There are views there I've never seen in my lifetime.

4

5
[CSX had to haul a bunch of rock into this area to rebuild what got washed away.]

6
[The wall also acts like a retaining wall which reduces the amount of rock that CSX had to haul to the area.]

A view of the bend in the river in Photo 3 a few months before the hurricane.

Street View, Apr 2024

At the top of the bend in the middle of this excerpt is the bridge over Pigeon Roost Creek. The wall goes southwest down to Huntdale. I include the top of the bend on the left because that is where CSX had to build a new bridge.

1957/66 Johnson City Quad @ 250,000

1911,1959 "I" Street+SP Bridge over Sacramento River in Sacramento, CA

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

The lower deck carries the UP/Southern Pacific tracks. Because of that, this bridge will be preserved when a new vehicle bridge is built. The upper deck will become a trail bridge. [ArchivedBridgeHunter]

This 854' (260m) long bridge has a main span of 195' (60m). [HistoricBridges]

Boat  View, Mar 2021

Trail View, May 2016

Street View, Jan 2025

Photo taken during 2019 Bridge Lantern Festival by City of West Sacramento via BridgeHunter

2010 Photo by Craig Philpott via BridgeHunter

Bridges Now and Then posted
Sacramento, California's, I Street Bridge, built 1911-12. (Sacramento Heritage, Inc.)

Steve Jackson: Plenty of bridges cross county lines. This is the only one I can think of that I've seen that straddles a boundary.