1909 Virginian (VGN) Railroad Garwood Trestle (Viaduct) and Tunnel #9

Bridge: (Bridge Hunter broke Mar 22, 2023; no Historic Bridges; B&T; Satellite)

Tunnel: (Satellite)

Jack D. Kuiphoff posted
(SEE & HEAR)---Norfolk Southern, NS C39's 8657-8638, on the ex-Virginian Garwood trestle, Garwood, West Virginia. July 15, 1988. Jack D Kuiphoff photo © video.
See this and the pushers working hard in my Youtube link.
https://youtu.be/ofJbsO9mXy4
[That view must be easier to get to than I would have thought because here is another video from that vantage point.]
Jim Carter: It is a railroad bridge. Contrary to the understanding of many, not all railroad bridges are trestles. Trestles and viaducts are both types of railroad bridge construction. Garwood is a viaduct. The Virginian Railway has many wonderful viaducts, all built by Virginia Iron and Bridge. All are 30/60 viaducts, meaning 30 ft. deck plate girder spans on the towers and 60 between. The only trestle construction on the Virginian main line that is still in use are a few between Mullens and Deepwater and the approaches to the two drawbridges in Hampton Roads, and the Tanners Creek bridge on the Sewells Point Branch.

I've mentioned before that I've noticed that the definition of a trestle vs. a viaduct is very controversial. In fact, I've seen someone state that only the steel-girders-on-towers design is a trestle. Which is not only exactly opposite of Jim Carter's view, but rules out the following design. However, I think everyone but that one person would agree that the following is a trestle. If I had seen Jim's explanation years ago, I would have probably introduced the "bridgeViaduct" label. But that it is too late now to be that precise. I did add "viaduct" to the title of these notes to flag that they contain Jim's comment.

Robert Billingsley commented on Jack's post, cropped
This is considered a trestle. Short repeating spans.

It still has a catenary from when it was electrified. Was Jack setting on another catenary when he shot his video?

Street View, Jun 2021

B&T
The VGN was completed in 1909 with grades up to 2.07%. In 1923, VGN employees went on strike because of health concerns taking steam locomotives through poorly ventilated tunnels at 7mph. By 1925, VGN had electrified 133.6 miles between Mullens and Roanoke. "Alco-Westinghouse EL-3As, operated in sets of three, could transport a 6,000-ton coal train at 14 MPH." The coal powered trains were just 4 to 6 thousand tons a 7mph. "The Norfolk & Western Railway acquired the VGN in December 1959, and by July 1962, the electrified locomotives were replaced with diesel locomotives....The Norfolk & Western Railway merged with the Southern Railway in 1982 to form the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). The last revenue “Hill Run” traveled between Elmore and Clark’s Gap on October 9, 2015, and the Clark’s Gap yard was used to store coal hoppers until April 15, 2021."

Back when it was still electrified:

nwhs
Mar 17, 1954

I lucked out, a quadrangle covers all of the electrified route. I put a red cross near the upper-left corner to mark the location of the Garwood Trestle. The VGN paralleled the N&W between Ingleside, WV, and north of Radford, VA. The VGN crossed the New River at Glen Lyn, VA, so that it used the north and east shore of New River while the N&W used the south and west shore. Now, I can't find either railroad in Glen Lyn.

1955 Bluefield Quad @ 250,000

Bonus

A viaduct that is in the town of Covel, which is a little north of Garwood.

Street View, Oct 2008 (Satellite)

There is another short tunnel a couple hundred feet south of #9 and a longer tunnel a few hundred feet further south through the Micajah Ridge.

This is where I found the three tunnels.

1925 Bramwell Quad @ 62,500

"Highway to Heaven" in Wyoming

(Satellite)

CowboyStateDaily, cropped and Ohh By You posted
This spot on I-80 in Wyoming is known as the Highway to Heaven.

Looking West. This is the area labeled as "Highway to Heaven" on Google Maps.

Street View, Nov 2021

Looking East: But this looks more like the photo.

Street View, May 2016

 

My America posted
[RED ALERT: this description is wrong. See the following comments.]

Did you know that "the Highway to Heaven" Interstate Route 80 (I-80) is one of the major interstate highways in the United States, traversing the country from east to west. The part of Interstate 80 known as "the highway to heaven" is located in Wyoming, between the cities of Laramie and Cheyenne. This stretch of highway passes through the "Summit", a mountain pass in the Laramie Mountains, which is the highest point on I-80 at an altitude of approximately 8,640 feet (2,634 meters) above sea level. This section of highway is notable for its stunning scenery and for being challenging during the winter due to severe weather conditions. Important Features and Details:

1. **Extension and Route**: - I-80 extends for approximately 2,900 miles (4,667 km). - Starts in San Francisco, California, and ends in Teaneck, New Jersey, near New York City.

2. **States Crossed**: - I-80 passes through 11 states: California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

3. **Historical Importance**: - It largely follows the historic route of the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the United States. - Also follows the path of historic trails such as the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail.

4. **Use and Traffic**: I-80 is vital to the United States economy and mobility, facilitating fast and efficient transportation across a large portion of the country.

You must read this: https://www.traveller365.com/.../DaretoDriveAGuidetoAmeri...

Credits to the rightful owner

Dennis Ritts: Highway to Heaven is west of Green River and East of Evanston. It is NOT between Cheyenne and Laramie.

David Hay: Dennis Ritts I believe it is the 7 hills section. This is not I80.

[Evidently, I-80 does have a "Highway to Heaven" section.]

Billy Guthrie: Ann Erdmann It’s west of Ft Bridger WY. Driven it number of times.

Jennifer Covert: Billy Guthrie yes...it's between Bigalow road and bear river exit in Evanston.

Kathy Biesboer Williamson: In Illinois it truly is the Highway to Heaven-especially in Joliet - most likely place to get killed in a car accident with the ongoing construction!!

 

Johnny S. Loftis commented on My America's post
[I can't believe the number of comments that argued the original photo was part of I-80. Fortunately, this commenter provided a correct I-80 photo as part of that argument.]

Truckers and RV drivers think it is more like a highway to hell. In addition to a long climb out of a valley, there are almost always strong, prevailing winds at the top of the valley.  And the highway is no stranger to snow and ice. [CowboyStateDaily] Note all of the wind turbines on the horizon in the above street view.

Mide D, Jun 2023

Did you know that ? posted

Did you know that "the Highway to Heaven" Interstate Route 80 (I-80) is one of the major interstate highways in the United States, traversing the country from east to west. The part of Interstate 80 known as "the highway to heaven" is located in Wyoming, between the cities of Laramie and Cheyenne. This stretch of highway passes through the "Summit", a mountain pass in the Laramie Mountains, which is the highest point on I-80 at an altitude of approximately 8,640 feet (2,634 meters) above sea level. This section of highway is notable for its stunning scenery and for being challenging during the winter due to severe weather conditions. Important Features and Details:

 1. **Extension and Route**: - I-80 extends for approximately 2,900 miles (4,667 km). - Starts in San Francisco, California, and ends in Teaneck, New Jersey, near New York City. 

2. **States Crossed**: - I-80 passes through 11 states: California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

 3. **Historical Importance**: - It largely follows the historic route of the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the United States. - Also follows the path of historic trails such as the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail. 

4. **Use and Traffic**: I-80 is vital to the United States economy and mobility, facilitating fast and efficient transportation across a large portion of the country.

Credits to the rightful owner

US-52 Bridge over Big Blue River near Morristown, IN and Corten Steel

(Satellite)

Corten is a brand name for US Steel. The generic term seems to be weathering steel.

Indiana Department of Transportation: East Central posted, cropped
📍 Shelby County 
The U.S. 52 bridge over the Big Blue River will have pre-rusted beams! You read that correctly! This is a process called weathering steel in which the weathered steel provides a protective rust that further inhibits corrosion.
Jim Williams: It's Corten steel. Not CorTen or Cor-Ten.
[The comments identify some buildings and other bridges that were built with Corten.
It is not used for automobiles because it does not bend well enough for thin sheets of steel to be stamped into shape.]
Hunter Stout: Done a few jobs with CorTen, it’s some neat stuff. Doesn’t work any different than mild steel, but watching it rust over the course of a day is fascinating.
Chris Arndt: The John Deere Admin building in Moline, IL designed by Eero Saarinen and built in the early 60s, was about the first major building constructed with Cor-Ten. After maybe 2 decades, it was learned that Cor-Ten was not suitable for setting in concrete footings bare and ultimately corroded.

John Shaffer commented on the above post
This was done with a bridge in Owego NY, still looks great even after 20 years.

Because a Pittsburgh bridge made with Corten collapsed on Jan 28, 2022, I followed up on that collapse. 

Note the articulated Port Authority bus that went down with the bridge.

Richard Butterworth commented on a post (whose link is now broke) via Dennis DeBruler

Getting that bus out of the ravine was non-trivial in its own right.

cbsnews_crane

The crane has a lot of counterweights for this lift.

cbsnews_1_year_later

cbsnews_1_year_later, NewsChopper 2/KDKA
PennDOT built the new bridge with concrete girders instead of steel girders. One lane in each direction was open by Christmas, 2022.

But they closed it for another month in June 2023 to finish construction and open all four lanes. [PittsburghMagazine]

After four months, the NTSB has a couple of photos from the forward-facing and curbside cameras of the bus. And they plan to a lot of testing, interviews and inspection of similar bridges.

ntsb_May_2022
This shows the bridge deck separating at the east expansion joint.

ntsb_May_2022
This shows that the west end had already fallen off the west abutment.

Two days short of  a year later, the NTSB has done a lot of testing, interviews and inspection of ten bridges. [ntsb_Jan_2023]

1890 Aban/Rock Island Bridge over I&M Canal in North Utica, IL

(Bridge Hunter broke Mar 22, 2023; Historic Bridges; John Marvig; Satellite)

I&M Canal Overview

Brad's photos reminded me of the abandoned railroad bridge over the canal in Morris, IL. But that is not a pony truss like this one.

Brad Brown posted two photos with the comment: "Illinois and Michigan canal around Lasalle il, don't know what line this was but the RI ran near this bridge. Tracks have been gone a long time."

Ed Brown: It was rail access to Utica Hydraulic Cement Co. In later years same plant was used by American Silica Sand Co. for cleaning and drying crude sand mined on north side (Rock Island main side). The crude sand went in by rail and shipped out by rail.

Immediately on south side of bridge was a switch leading to other industries and possibly interchange with Chicago, Ottawa, and Peoria inter -urban railway. In later years this track serviced Utica Elevator Co.

What was unique about the turnout on the south side of bridge, was switch points were on north side and remainder of turnout on south side of bridge. The rails between points and frog making it a gauntlet. Incidentally this track formed a very sharp tight radius curve as it swung off to the east.

Tim Shanahan shared

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"This is an uncommon example of a double-intersection Warren pony truss." [BridgeHunter]

I'm surprised that such an old bridge is not pin-connected. This is a transition design. It uses rivets, but without gusset plates.

7th of 11 photos in JohnMarvig

Although the end connections for the upper chords do use gusset plates.

8th of 11 photos in JohnMarvig

Dennis DeBruler commented on Brad's post
The original route. 1966 La Salle Quad @ 24,000
The tracks are still on a 1979 topo, but not on a 1993 topo.

I used this railroad branch as an opportunity to compare the Illinois aerial photo with the Federal aerials. Here is the Illinois aerial.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

I was surprised that the oldest aerial in the Federal collection was 1956.

EarthExplorer: Apr 24, 1956 @ 55,031; ARA550310010001

And since the government server was running good, I also got the highest-resolution photo that is available.

EarthExplorer: Mar 18, 1967 @ 20,000; AR1VBOM00010107

Keith Haskins posted 10 images with the comment: "Old CRI&P spur bridge going over original I&M Canal."

Tim Shanahan shared

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Pedestrian Bridge Collapses During Construction in Slingerlands, NY

(Satellite)

The Albany County Rail Trail was the Delaware & Hudson Railroad.

I've seen a lot more pedestrian bridges than road bridges that have collapsed during construction. For example, the FIU Bridge.

Ed Bonapartian posted two photos with the comment: "We had a bridge beam failure in Slingerlands, NY, earlier this week when the concrete decking was being poured. This is a pedestrian walkway bridge replacement over a local road."

Miller Miller: Awful big iron for a pedestrian bridge.

Bob Featherstone: Miller Miller Yes. I think it was supposed to look like a railway bridge, not be a railway bridge. What drove on it?

James Torgeson: Bob Featherstone A cement mixer, apparently.

[Some comments indicate that the ready-mix truck was on the main span to the right of the yellow screed machine. As one comment said, this is what concrete pumps are for. The bridge was probably designed to carry an ambulance. But was it designed for trucks?]

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Note that the design they are trying to memic had support columns between the approach and main spans. The clearance of the old bridge was just 11' 2".

Street View, Jul 2018

As some comments in the above post indicated, the web needed some more stiffeners in the aread of the transition if it was supposed to support a ready-mix truck. 

16th of 21 photos in TimesUnion, Daniel Roberts/Times Union
The $3.28m project started in March, and it was supposed to be finished by July 31. 

2004 Lake Express High-Speed Ferry between Milwaukee and Muskegon

Milwaukee: (Satellite, 651 photos)

Muskegon: (Satellite, 1,059 photos)

Lake Express High Speed Ferry posted
Daybreak today with the Lake Express and the Hanseatic Inspiration at dock.
[Hanseatic Inspiration is a cruise ship.]

"The Lake Express ferry made history as the first high speed auto passenger ferry in the United States on June 1, 2004 when it re-established the historic Lake Michigan ferry route between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Muskegon, Michigan. Crossing Lake Michigan in just 2-1/2 hours, the Lake Express established new standards for Great Lakes ferry service, cutting hours from previous record crossing times and hours from the typical trip around Lake Michigan through Chicago’s congested tollway system." [lake-express]

This was posted for the Milwaukee dock, but it is obviously the Muskegon dock.

Lake Express High-Speed Ferry, Oct 2018

They load the bow in Muskegon, but the stern in Milwaukee. That way you are always driving forwards on the ferry.

lake-express

Lake Express High-Speed Ferry, Jul 2021

This view confirms that it is a catamaran.

Lake Express High-Speed Ferry, Jun 2022

1of 3 photos posted by Lake Express High Speed Ferry
More full loads of 120 motorcycles arriving yesterday and today for the Harley-Davidson 120th homecoming. Welcome to Milwaukee!