1836 Burnside Stone Bridge over Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, MD

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

Shorty Davis, Jun 2025

This 107' (32.6m) long bridge with a main span of 34' (10.4m) is on the Antietam National Battlefield. [BridgeHunter]

Ken Myers, May 2025

Jimmy Flame, Apr 2020

Mystic Nirvana posted three photos with the comment: "In Maryland today. Pic of Burnside's Bridge -  Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg, MD. Built in 1836, it played a notable role in the 1862 civil war."

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Kristin Birchard, May 2023

I think the interpretive plaques below are from this ridge overlooking the bridge. Unfortunately, I can't determine the order of the plaques.

NANCY T, Dec 2024

Jason Peach, Mar 2018

Digitally Zoomed

G. Funk, Nov 2023

Daniel Grove, Jun 2024

John Koeppen, Jun 2024

Daniel Grove, Jun 2024

Joseph Mosca, Jun 2020

They must have had cannons a lot bigger than the one above to shoot this bullet.

Tara K, Oct 2023

Bridges over Little Miami River and Remington/Peters Cartridge Factory at Kings Mills, OH

Early 20th: (Satellite)

1988: (no Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

2023: (Satellite)

I can't tell if this is a pin-connected truss from the photo. I'm going to assume it is because it looks rather spindly.

The smokestack would have been part of a factory that made gunpowder. John Warren King started producing gunpowder in 1855. I think this was the truss that was destroyed by a flood in 1913. It was replaced by a three-span truss. King's son-in-law, Gershom Peters, started the cartridge factory that was on the south side of the river in 1887. [beco, p3]

The cartridge factory produced munitions until 1944. Other products were made until 1967. A superfund cleaned up the site in 2015-17. [beco, p4]

Johnson Lara posted
With the new bridge set to open soon, a look back at the original Kings Mills Bridge over the Little Miami River about 125 years ago.

This looks like the 1988 bridge was a concrete girder bridge.

Street View, Aug 2016

The satellite map has updated the path of the road, but the satellite image is from before construction has started on the new bridge.

Satellite

This is an image during construction. They removed the old bridge long before the new one was ready. 

Google Earth, Aug 2023

Some construction photos from beco. The factory in the background used to make cartridges. It was being converted to apartments while the bridge was being built.

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I didn't notice the second, red, concrete pump until I noticed the ready-mix trucks down in the valley.

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The contract for the new bridge was $22.5m. [bceo, p12]

In 2017, the estimate was $10m for the bridge replacement.

0:30 video
New bridge planned for span over Little Miami River near Kings Mills

While looking for the view of the concrete girder bridge near the top of these notes, I noticed how extensive the restoration work was.

Street View, Aug 2016

Street View, Aug 2016

Another "before" view.

Isaac Logan, Sep 2021

I'm glad that the clock tower and smokestack were preserved.

Street View, Aug 2025

Another example of line-shaft power.

Facebook Reel

Bridge over Nolan Creek in Belton, TX

(Satellite)

Belton, Texas - City Government posted
Thank you to the 36th Engineer Brigade for installing this temporary bridge over Nolan Creek today.

Belton, Texas - City Government posted 0:25 video
Fort Hood is staged in Belton and prepared to deploy a bridge over Nolan Creek, if weather conditions and creek levels are suitable.

Belton, Texas - City Government commented on their post.

Karen Powell Jennings: Belton, Texas - City Government Great plan! Our family used to enjoy using the low water bridge to get to Liberty Park (current name [According to Google Map, it used to be called Confederate Park.]). [I spent quite a bit of time Googling, etc. trying to find where this bridge was before I came across this comment.]

Gustav and Dora Railroad Guns, the largest ever used in combat

I wonder what the scale is for this model.

SlashGear, Image by Paul Hermans via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0
"THE BIGGEST GUN EVER USED IN COMBAT: GERMANY'S SCHWERER GUSTAV"
It was designed to defeat the Maginot Line and had the requirements to "bust through walls made of three feet of layered steel or 23 feet of reinforced concrete....The entire rig was over 150 feet long, 40 feet tall, and weighed nearly 1,500 tons. The barrel alone was 100 feet long and had a 31-inch-wide bore that fired two different 80cm (800mm) caliber shells measuring over 2.5 feet wide and 12.5 feet long. The five-ton high explosive round carried over 1,500 pounds of explosives, made an impact crater almost 30 feet wide and 30 feet deep and could hit a target downrange nearly 30 miles away. The heavier seven-ton armor-piercing round contained just over 550 pounds of explosives and had an effective target range of around 23 miles. Given the size of the shells, it could only fire 14 projectiles a day....Gustav cost an estimated 10 million German Marks to build, was used twice, and fired less than 100 rounds. While it was the biggest gun used in combat, it was not the biggest gun ever built. That claim to fame lies with "Little David," a 36-inch (914 mm) cannon built by the U.S. Army to use against Japanese bunkers. Fortunately, the Japanese surrendered before it was ever needed."

WeAreTheMighty
"The Schwerer Gustav and its sister gun Dora were the two largest artillery pieces every constructed in terms of overall weight (1350 tonnes) and weight of projectiles (15,700 pounds), while it’s 800mm rounds are the largest ever fired in combat. The guns also had a range of over 24 miles. The guns were originally designed to be deployed against the French Maginot Line though the Blitzkrieg rendered that mission obsolete. Instead, the guns were deployed to the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union. The Schwerer Gustav entered combat during the German siege of Sevastopol in June 1942. The gun was manned by a crew of over 1400 men, 250 to assemble the weapon, two anti-aircraft battalions to protect it, and the rest to load and fire the weapon. Dora was set up to be deployed against Stalingrad, though it cannot be confirmed whether it fired against its target or not. Both guns remained on the Eastern Front but were not used in combat again. They were destroyed in Germany to avoid capture by the advancing allied armies."

The Steam Channel posted
Peter Shaw’s 1/6 scale Scratchbuilt Dora.

Alan Ashworth: This gun was bigger the both Annie and Bertha. It operated two sets of tracks. The one in the picture is 1/6 scale that is same scale as the old GIJoes 12'' ones. Dora was the name of the wife of the president of Krupp.

Ingmar Frans Sandberg: It's as second world war cannon, it was used on the coast l line for invasion, it was big enough to put a battleship on the bottom of the ocean, to bad for the Germans they built most of them on the wrong locations.

Brian S. Franchise: The actual gun was two stories high. A shell from that was taking out whole towns. But it took too much manpower, was visible from the air from enemy planes, and could only fire 4-6 shells a day, so they got rid of it.

Steven Anderson: It was an impractical weapon as it also had to disassembled to move it.

[I think some of the commenters mistook this gun for Gustav.]

This was a smaller gun, but still pretty big.

reddit
the_howling_cow provides the caption on the original Signal Corps photo:
"Mammoth 274-mm railroad gun Captured in the U.S. Seventh Army advance near Rentwertshausen easily holds these 22 men lined up on the barrel. Although of an 1887 French design, the gun packs a powerful wallop. April 10, 1945."

Wikipedia, Public Domain released by Allocer
"Schwerer Gustav (black) compared to an OTR-21 Tochka SRBM launcher (red) (which launches projectiles of similar size and range) with human figures for scale"

Drydocking the Battleship NEW JERSEY

(Satellite, 20,360)

I've been following the Battleship New Jersey YouTube channel for a few years. On Mar 21, 2024, they left their museum dock in Camden, NJ, for the first time in 20 years for a 2-month drydocking process. It has been 32 years since it was drydocked, and this drydocking is expected to last another 30 years. I plan to add to these notes as the drydocking continues. They are offering drydock tours of her during Apr and May on the weekends.

This is the channel's live feed of the battleship leaving its dock. I don't know how long they had a bad signal because I skipped the ceremony. Note that soon after they shoved away from the dock, they turned the ship around.

1:32:55 video @ 1:21:17

Note the propwash coming from underneath the pilothouse on the lead tugboat. I presume that it has a Voith Schneider "Propeller" (VSP) rather than a standard screw propeller. Or maybe it is a bow mounted Z-drive.

1:32:55 video @ 1:18:04

McAllister Towing posted three photos with the comment:

What a historic day on the Delaware River! The tugs Beverly R. McAllister, McAllister Responder, Reid McAllister and Robert E. McAllister had the awesome responsibility of moving the battleship, USS New Jersey. It is the first time the New Jersey has moved in over 20 years. The famous floating museum is going to drydock to undergo maintenance and refurbishment.

The tugs, with over 14,000 hp combined, transited the ship from her longtime home in Camden, NJ south down the Delaware. On the route she passed under the renowned Walt Whitman Bridge before docking at Paulsboro terminal. Many American flags were seen flying along the route, saluting the most decorated battleship in US history as she sailed past.

Congratulations to McAllister Towing of Philadelphia, docking pilot Captain Joseph E. Benton III and the captains and crews of the tugboats in executing this momentous operation safely and securely.  Bravo to you all!

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Dana Russikoff provided a 0:11 video of the turning of the ship as a comment on the McAllister Towing post

Bryan Kohler commented on the McAllister Towing post

The white water between the port tug and the ship is prop wash. 

Donald Stockman commented on the McAllister Towing post
It was great seeing it in person.

Benjamin Kranefeld commented on the McAllister Towing post
You guys did an awesome job getting her down the river! I was in Gloucester City watching her pass by.

Nick Ariemma commented on the McAllister Towing post

Jim Bastan commented on the McAllister Towing post

Benjamin Kranefeld posted five photos with the comment:

The Battleship New Jersey was moved today from her berth in Camden for the first time in over 20 years. She was taken south along the Delaware River by tug boat to a port in Paulsboro. There, she will be filled with water to properly adjust the ballast (level) of the ship before she enters drydock in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Maintenance will be performed and fresh paint applied while in Philadelphia. 

I was fortunate enough to catch a portion of the move that took place this morning. My photos were taken from Gloucester City, in the vicinity of the Walt Whitman Bridge.

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[I noticed that there is a power plant in the background over her bow. I knew about the Richmond Generating Station, but I found that this one is the Southwark Generating Station.]

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In preparation for the move, they had rented a crane to remove structures such as antennae from the top of their mast. 

Paulina Sawicki commented on Benjamin's post
Beautiful sight to see! I swear Facebook destroys the quality though.

Bridges Now and Then posted
"People gather in Gloucester City, N.J., to view the USS New Jersey pass beneath the Walt Whitman Bridge, Thursday, March 21, 2024. The retired battleship is initially headed to the Paulsboro Marine Terminal, where it will be balanced to prepare for dry docking, and will then go to the Philadelphia Navy Yard." (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

 

John Brady commented on the above post

A timelapse video of the departure that started in the morning. I snapshotted it while they were dropping the final mooring lines.

0:34 timelapse video @ 0:27

Ryan Szimanski posted
We took a lot of photos and videos today, I mean did you see the 4 hour livestream? But here's a quick preview of one of the cameras that was up at the top of the ship as we went under the bridge.
Brent Woodman: I noticed vehicular traffic was stopped on the bridge as she passed underneath. Was this cautionary in case of a bridge strike, or to keep drivers from being distracted as she sailed by? It was a beautiful site. I watched the entire livestream from Georgia.
Michael Summers: Brent Woodman, the bridge is built to flex. Keeping vehicles off of it would maximize the clearance between the ship and the underside of the bridge.
Dan Sarandrea: Several volleys from each of the port and starboard saluting guns to commemorate the day's events. Three at departure, one return salute to Olympia, one return salute to Ft. Mifflin, and IIRC one salute passing the Navy Yard. NO volleys from the 5"/38s due to the proximity of the tugboats.
Clark Perks: Why did the trip happen at high tide?
Were you TRYING to get close to the bridge?!
Duane McDonald: Clark Perks they were TRYING to get less close to the bottom of the river. That's a very big ship for that river.
[The comments contain several fan photos.]
Bridges Now and Then shared
The top camera on USS New Jersey caught the passage under the Walt Whitman Bridge yesterday. Awesome!

Joey Contino commented on Ryan's post
My favorite from the day!
I have a bunch of drone footage from today. https://youtu.be/a97USA8Jru4

A recap of the trip from the museum dock. It includes some timelapse video from ship of the move. But it also has some of the prep work such as this crane removing the mast and radar antenae so that they could fit under the bridge. The clearance of the bridge goes from 150' to 145' when there are cars on it.

11:17 video @ 1:55

Recap of the trip into drydock #3.

9:45 video @ 6:47

Ryan Szimanski posted

We've got a first look at the screws and rudders! 

Don't forget, you can get under the ship on a tour, Battleshipnewjersey.org

Lyle Byler: I wasn't aware the inboard screws were 5 blade and outboard only 4.

Hesham Oubari: Looks much better than when I was in the drydock in 87. I remember punching my hand through what remained of the rudder.

Dave Esselburn: I kind of expected a little more rust and growth on there. Obviously it's not a closeup, but to the untrained eye, it looks like a fresh coat of paint is all it needs.

Gabriel Wagner: Dave Esselburn from my understanding the steel of those days is much less porous than that of modern day and less susceptible to scaling like the modern stuff.

Chris Duffy: It’s important to remember the old girl sits in freshwater, not salt. Much easier on the hull obviously.

Ryan Szimanski posted

At long last, I finally got to walk under the ship. 

We are keeping some water in the dock until the dock can have the mud washed down tomorrow so it's still a little wet. 

So far, things look good. Until we wash the mud and growth off the ship we won't have the full picture but I'm optimistic.

You too can walk under the ship, get your tickets at battleshipnewjersey.org

Vince Robinson: Question: With the outboard screws only being 4 bladed, did those shafts require a higher RPM than the inboard? Or did all turn the same speed for a given bell?

Vince Pa: Vince Robinson #1&2 look like left hand pitch port side. So shaft would spin counter clockwise. 3&4 clockwise. The view on center line looking forward is awesome. Looks like the entrance to a tunnel for water drawing to #2&3

Corey Patrick: Vince Robinson Shafts typically all turned same rpms for a given speed. The pitch of the blades on the screws are quite different between the 4 bladed and 5 bladed screws however.

David Hansch: Corey Patrick also the flow field the prop is in is very different which plays into the choice of pitch.

Ryan Szimanski posted
Here's a preview of what to expect from the ship's underside. Seems promising so far!

Iowa Class Battleships posted
USS New Jersey seen in dry dock from the air.  Sent in by Arthur Gerwitz. 

The USS Kentucky, B-66, was built with the same design as New Jersey, B-62.

Sopheaknsp056 posted

USS Kentucky (BB-66) as seen from the bow looking towards the stern, She was an uncompleted battleship intended to be the last ship of the Iowa class

Under construction; the twin rudder stock housings are easily seen in the foreground along with the port side lower armor belt and the aft torpedo defense system framing. the round barbettes which would have held her 16-inch (406 mm) main battery are prominent.

Phillip Johnson: The caption is wrong, this is the stern looking towards the bow.

Art Jacobson: At least the bow of the Kentucky lives on since it was used to replace the damaged Wisconsin bow in 1956.

Joe Blacker: Why 66, where's the 65 !

Phillip Johnson: Joe Blacker BB-65 was the planned USS Illinois. It too was never completed, and I believe didn’t get as far along in construction as the BB-66. BB-67 was the first of the planned but never started Montana class.

Speaking of  Kentucky:

Battle Stations Naval Warfare posted
USS Kentucky (BB-66)I s moved from her building dock at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia, circa 20 January 1950. The ship, completed only up to her second deck, was launched to clear the drydock, so that USS Missouri (BB-63) could undergo repairs for damage received when she went aground on 17 January 1950. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Brian Scott: Believe it or not, she was scheduled to come out of DryDock 8 on that date, not for the arrival of Muddy Mo. That was just a coincidence. And the fact that she is incomplete should give you a clue that she was never commissioned, thus no USS. Facts

All-steel derrick crane YD-26 on the right.

Seth Block: She was never launched so she is not actually named either…