US-31 and CSX/GM&O Bridges over Alabama River near Montgomery, AL

US-31: (Satellite)

CSX/GM&O: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

A truss bridge was built in 1926 for US-31 over the Alabama River. [Bridge Hunter]

Life in Alabama posted
This was the old bridge, which crossed the Alabama River on Hwy 31, providing access to/from Montgomery and Prattville.  Some of you may remember that it was a very, very narrow two-lane bridge.  I snapped this photo several years ago, shortly before it was demolished.

Lee Dorsey: The T.L.Goodwin Bridge

William Morrison posted with the same description.

Ruth Dennison: It turned in the middle for large boats, also the railroad tracks were next to it, it moved in the middle as well.

[This comment caused me to take a closer look at the photo. The middle pier is round, so that would be holding the swing span.]

Shannon Dean posted with the same description.

[Plagiarism is bad enough. But to explicitly claim that one took a photo that was stolen really hurts my head. A comment challenged that she took the photo. Shannon still claimed she took it. When challenged with the Life in Alabama post, she replied: "It's been taken twice. The one you attached and one other Alabama site." I'm supposed to believe that both photographers got the tree leaves in the same positions? I don't believe that. What I do believe is that Facebook is allowing a lot of false profiles to be built so that they can scam people.]

In 1954 another bridge was built to carry the northbound traffic.

Photo courtesy of Alabama Department of Archives & History via BusinessAlabama

Street View, May 2023

AlabamaMosaic
"Blount Brothers Construction Company of Montgomery built the bridge; John C. Bullard, Sr., served as field engineer for the project, and H. H. Brandt served as field superintendent. Todd Shipyards in Houston, Texas, fabricated the girders, which were delivered in sections by rail to Hunter Station, just south of the river. They were then carried by truck to the bridge site and were erected from a temporary wooden trestle that spanned the river. During the assembly, the girders were were spliced together using steel rivets. At the time, the 220-foot steel deck girders for the main span of the bridge were the longest the Alabama State Highway Department had ever designed and built."

Bridges Now and Then posted
"This 1954 photo shows workers assembling girders during construction of the bridge over the Alabama River for the northbound lanes of U.S. Route 31 between Montgomery and Prattville. Blount Brothers Construction Co. of Montgomery built the bridge. A shipyard in Houston, Texas, fabricated the girders, which were delivered in sections by rail. At the time, the 220-foot steel deck girders were the longest the Alabama State Highway Department had designed and used." (Photo courtesy of the Alabama Department of Archives & History)
BusinessAlabama_carrying

Jake DeCourcey: Notice the climbing wrenches.

Cos Cob Bob: This picture has a lot to look at. I like the bowstring to stabilize the top flange. [Until they attach a plate as the top flange.]

Dave Frieder commented on the above post
That is called a Plate Girder. One of the Floor beams for the GWB. 118 feet long, 10 feet high, top and bottom flange is 2 feet wide. Weighs in at 62.5 Tons.

The truss bridge was replaced in 2001. [Bridge Hunter]

I'm really surprised that I could not find HAER information on the truss bridge.

That is a strange pier design. Steel has gotten stronger. Those girders don't look as deep as the 1954 girders. Note the railroad bridge in the background.

Street View, May 2023

Speaking of the railroad bridge.

Note the round pier on the left. The swing span has been replaced by a couple of steel-girder spans. And the other side of the bridge is now a lift span.

Street View, Sep 2023

2011 photo by Ben Tate via  BridgeHunter

The CSX route is a former GM&O route.

1958/59 Montgomery Quad @ 62,500

ICG dumped a lot of the GM&O routes, so I researched who got this route because a satellite map shows that the track has new ballast. What blows my mind is that the owner changes between Prattville and the bridge.

arcgis