1871: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)
1903: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)
1956: (Satellite)
 |
| 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 and Ohio posted The new Main Street Bridge • Dayton Ohio • early 1900s! |
In the early 1900s, the City of Dayton replaced the steel bridge spanning Main Street with one made of reinforced concrete. The new bridge was built because the steel bridge could not carry the weight of electric street cars according to “On This Date In Dayton’s History” by historian Curt Dalton. The bridge was constructed in seven spans and was one of the first concrete bridges built. At 54-feet [16m] wide and 588-feet [149m] in length, it was said to be the longest in the world for a period of time, according to Dalton’s research. [Lisa Powell via DaytonDailyNews]
 |
| udayton "Postcard depicting pile of wreckage in front of Main Street Bridge following the flood. Transcript of back reads 'Kraemer Art Cincinnati Postcard' Mass of Wreckage at Main St. Bridge Dayton, Ohio, during the Great Flood of March 1913." |
In the first decade of the 20th Century, automobiles were still rare.
 |
| FreeLibrary |
A different colorization.
 |
| ColumbusLibrary |
And another colorization. Did the above artists add the car? That explains why it looks so skinny. They also added people.
 |
| 1911 postcard via BridgeHunter_1903 |
Again, there are no automobiles.
 |
| Postcard via BridgeHunter_1903 |
I include an image with a streetcar since that is why this bridge was built.
 |
| BridgeHunter_1903 |
The original (1835) bridge was a covered bridge. It looks like the river is flooded.
 |
| BridgeHunter_1835 |
The 1871 bridge was an inverted-bowstring truss bridge.
 |
| BridgeHunter_1871 |
 |
| BridgeHunter_1871 |
An extract from THE BRIDGES OF DAYTON by Charles F. SullivanThe Main street bridge was replaced by a steel structure, different from any other bridge I have ever seen. It was four spans, with a steel pillar upon each pier, and from the top of these was swung a steel bar down in a circular form and up to the top of the next pillar, so the arch of them was hanging instead of upright as usual. This allowed of much swinging of the bridge, without danger, but with the coming of the electric street cars, the people became afraid of it and the cars were required to pass each other at the piers, and the swinging was not as noticeable. Nothing ever happened there but eventually the bridge was condemned and about 1903 a temporary bridge was built below the bridge site and was used during the construction of the concrete bridge by H. E. Talbot & Co., the contractors. The old bridge was stored for a number of years and then two spans were erected at Summit street over Wolf creek, and a sign was placed at each end of the bridge, cautioning the public against heavy loads across it. One day two heavily loaded trucks going in opposite directions and at too high a speed, passed in the middle of a span, and that was too much and bridge and trucks all went into the creek bed, but no one received serious injury from it.[ArchivedBridgeHunter_1871]
All of the elegant old buildings are gone.
 |
| Street View, Sep 2016 |
No comments:
Post a Comment