IA-136+IL-136 1891,1975 Bridges over the Mississippi River between Clinton, IA, and Fulton , IL

1891 Lyons-Fulton: (Bridge Hunter; IowaDOT) "wagon" or "high" bridge [Mark Kaspar comment on a post]

1975 Mark N. Morris: (Bridge Hunter; John A. Weeks III; Satellite)

This was the original route of the Lincoln Highway. It is now IA-136/IL-136. I presume the rerouting of US-30 is why both states managed to pick the same state highway number.

The original bridge strikes me as rather spindly looking for lasting all the way to 1975. (Update: they built a suspension bridge in 1959.)

Photo provided by Hank Zaletel via Bridge Hunter
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)

Vintage Photograph via Bridge Hunter
K. A. Erickson commented:

The vintage photograph (#1) with the bridge title across the top right comes from a postcard that was given out at Conoco stations, possibly nearby.

The back reads on the bottom:

P.S. We are seeing all the sights traveling with a Conoco TOURAIDE. It's wonderful! Your Mileage Merchant at his Conoco Station will tell you how to get one.

I know this to be true as I have in my possession now said postcard.



Nation Holth, the Historic Bridges guy, commented:

The K-truss deck truss approach spans on this bridge seen in the photo on this page are not original.  

This link has a photo showing original Baltimore deck truss spans. http://iagenweb.org/clinton/history/1bridge.htm [Unfortunately, the link is now broke. And I could not find a search option on their home page.]

The K-Truss truss configuration was invented by Phelps Johnson, president of the Dominion Bridge Company of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, as part of the design effort for the second (existing) Quebec Bridge. Phelps was born in 1849 in the United States and worked for the Wrought Iron Bridge Company for a time.

For this reason, one would not expect to find a pre-1914 K-truss.

John Weeks

This is the photo that motivated my research of this bridge.

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Dennis DeBruler

It looks like that bridge may be at Fulton, IL.

https://www.google.com/.../@41.8651676,-90.../data=!3m1!1e3

It is good to know that Illinois has not yet torn down all of its cantilever truss bridges.

Darel Maden posted
Mississippi River between Fulton Illinois and Clinton Iowa

On a satellite image, I marked the location of the 1891 bridge.

Satellite plus Paint

On a comparable excerpt from a 1939 aerial, I marked the location of the 1975 bridge. Note that CB&Q used to have a big yard. Today a grain elevator occupies the engine servicing facility.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP plus Paint

I zoom in on the satellite image to record that Illinois is evidently doing some maintenance on its truss bridges.

Satellite

Dewayne Bohannon posted
M/V Randy Anderson
That is this bridge in the middle and L&D #13 in the background.

A.J. Bertin posted two photos with the comment: "From June 2020, here's a couple photos I took of the Morris Bridge, which carries IA/IL 136 over the Mississippi River around Clinton IA and Fulton IL."

1

2

See Clinton Herald for some more photos of the 1891 bridge.

1940 Main Avenue+OH-2 Bridges over Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH

1860 swing: (Bridge Hunter)

1940 high clearance: (Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

The official name of the 1940 bridge is Harold H. Burton Memorial Bridge. It is 100' (30m) high and is Ohio's longest elevated structure at 8,000' (2440m, 1.5 miles). [case]

Google Maps labels it Cleveland Memorial Shoreway.

Bill Kloss posted
Homer D. Williams inbound on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland. c.1974 Chuck Drumm photo from my collection.
Dennis DeBruler: I never realized that the bridge had such an interesting support structure until I saw this photo.  https://bridgehunter.com/oh/cuyahoga/1800035/

Cleveland Public Library Photograph Collection via Bridge Hunter

Ray tomecko posted
Main Street Swing Bridge, 1933.
Douglas Butler shared
Credit to Ray Tomecko An old Main Street Swing Bridge is removed and the new Cantilever Arch Bridge is in place Cleveland, OH.

Photo taken by C Hanchey in July 2012 via Bridge Hunter,
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
Main Avenue Bridge

Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted

The tug Nebraska of the Great Lakes Towing Co. towing the freighter Harpefjell of the Fjell Line in Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1939 (Image Source: Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery). 

The ship is being towed down the Cuyahoga River towards Lake Erie. The Main Avenue Bridge and Terminal Tower can be seen in the background. The name of the photographer is not included in the notes for the image, which was created from a silver gelatin negative.

One source indicates the photograph may show the ship’s arrival at Cleveland on June 30, 1939, during its maiden voyage to the Great Lakes. Note the word “Norge” on its side to identify its neutral nationality, which became meaningless after Norway was invaded on April 9, 1940. 

Information Source:

William Lafferty

[The description continues with a history of the freighter.]

The replacement bridge is long because it must be high over the river to clear the ships that use the river.

Photo taken by Jann Mayer in September 2019 via Bridge Hunter, 

License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

South approach

Street View
[Note the NS/NYC Iron Curtain Bridge on the left and the Aban/B&O #464 Bridge peaking through above the first pier foundation.]

Bill Gagliano posted two photos with the comment: "Here are a couple photos of the Main Avenue Bridge under construction in Cleveland in 1939. Two little, or at least lesser, known facts about the bridge: (1) it was the highest elevated bridge in Ohio until 2007 and (2) its official name is the Harold H. Burton Memorial Bridge, so named in 1986 in honor of the 45th Mayor of the City of Cleveland."

Jim Raden: What surpassed it in 2007?

Bill Gagliano: Jim Raden The Glass City Skyway in Toledo.

David Schauer commented on his post
In Cleveland on July 8, 2022.

Lance Aerial Media posted
Almost captured this pano of American Courage making this impossible turn on the Cuyahoga.
Dennis DeBruler: And that is a nice view of the Main Avenue Bridge.

Carl Mottern posted
Photo looking North-West from the Terminal Tower.

Carl Mottern commented on his parent post
Also visible in my photo, are two sets of the monstrous Hullett Ore Unloaders.

Phil Mccarthy posted
Probably my favorite pic I’ve ever done

Lost/NYC/Big Four Bridge over Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH

(no Bridge Hunter; Satellite, but a pier remains)

While studying the Hope Memorial Bridge, I came across the following photo. Of course, I could not find it because it no longer exists. 

HAER OHIO,18-CLEV,39--2 (CT)
Significance: The American Institute of Steel Construction praised the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge as one of the most beautiful bridges of 1932.

 

Jonathan Konopka posted
1970’s - A Penn Central train is seen crossing over the Cuyahoga River via a former Big Four bridge near Downtown Cleveland. This was an industrial spur that came off the NYC Clark Branch. This train is heading westbound back to the Clark Branch, which is currently Flats Industrial Railroad trackage. Today, the Towpath runs through this area, which is known as Scranton Flats. Photo credit belongs to Dave Hopson.
[Some comments talk about taking sand trains to Ford's Engine Plant.]
Geoffrey Moreland shared

 

Mark Schwinn commented on Jonathan's post, cropped
Almost same view on March 5, 2022.

Zach Michael commented on Jonathan's post, rotated
Found the ZTS charts for the other side of the river

 

Zach Michael commented on Jonathan's post, cropped

Jonathan Konopka posted
Photo is from 1972. Looking north along the Cuyahoga River at the bascule bridge for the spur that came off the Big Four (now Flats Industrial Railroad) near the south end of DK Yard. Unknown photographer.
Dale Pohto: Though the bridge is long gone, the concrete abutments on the west (left) bank still remain, making this the narrowest point of navigation on the river.

 

Douglas Butler posted
Cleveland Columbus Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad Strauss Bascule Bridge was used also by the New York Central Railroad in Cleveland, Ohio was gone since 1988.
Dale Pohto: The concrete abutments still remain, making this the narrowest point of navigation in the river.

 

Thomas Ditty posted
River Bed Yard, Cleveland Ohio. I don't know the name or number of that bridge, but it has since been removed. The rail lines no longer exist as well. Taken April 1962. No photographer credit on slide.

Frank Persona commented on Thomas' post
The bridge location is circled below - snip from map available on Rails and Trails

Bryan Toaz: I have a piece of the lift bridge in the photo. Pulled it out of the Cuyahoga while doing some dredging a few years ago. The bridge was a Big 4 bridge.

Douglas Butler posted
Source from MutualArt.com CCC&St.L Strauss Railroad Bascule Bridge in Cleveland, Ohio was removed in 1988 was next to the Lorain- Carnegie Hope Memorial Bridge. This bridge was constructed in 1920 and fabricated by the American Bridge Co.
Geoffrey Moreland: Group expert in Civil Engineering Part of the Clark branch

Thomas Ditty commented on a post
 don’t know the number or name of this bridge, but it was at river bed yard in Cleveland. This photo is from 1962, and was one of the bridges that was later removed. No photographer credit on the slide.

Jonathan Konopka posted
This is the same bridge that I posted a few days ago (the spur off the Big Four near DK yard) but looking south instead of north. Photo dated 1972, photographer unknown.

 

Douglas Butler commented on Jonathan's post
The operator's cabin is located on the bridge tower and this Strauss Heel Trunnion Bascule Bridge was constructed in 1920 by the Strauss Bascule & Concrete Co. And fabricated by the American Bridge Co. The bridge was taken down in the year of 1988.

Bill Kloss posted
Kinsman's Chicago Trader laid up in Cleveland. A Chuck Drumm photo from the early 70s.
Fred Bultman: Getting ready for fit out. [Unfortunately, I don't know what that means.]

While studying the iron ore and coal docks of the Erie Railroad, I wondered if this mystery bridge was the lost Erie bridge. It is not. This bridge is downstream from the Erie bridge. I used this excerpt from the 1953 topo because it labels the tracks NYC. David's two maps (referenced below) indicate that this route was actually the Big Four, which was purchased by the NYC.

1953 Cleveland South Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

David Sharp left the following comments on the Hope Memorial Bridge post:

• Dennis, In reference to the picture "HAER OHIO,18-CLEV,39--2 (CT)" that was shot on Kodak Safety Film which is from at least 1938 forward. I live in Cleveland, Ohio and I have gone through old maps. etc... My only speculation is that it is a line that diverged off the Erie transfer track to the Big 4 on the west side over the Cuyahoga River to an NKP transfer yard on the east side of Cleveland. I found it on this map. The track in question is just south of "DK" yard. Here's the address of the map. That track is long gone and now seeing this picture, it opens up all kinds of new ideas about what was going on in that area of town. BTW, In Cleveland, west side is west of the Cuyahoga, east side is east of the crooked river.
• https://railsandtrails.com/Maps/Cleveland/ClevelandRRMap-100.jpg
• It is actually NYC. Another map shows the the line next to Lorain Ave.  https://railsandtrails.com/Maps/Cleveland/CleveMap-100a.jpg

The bridge appears on the 1963, 1970, 1979 and 1984 quadrangles. But it does not appear on the 1994 quadrangle. Naturally, the industrial trackage to which this bridge provided access is also gone.

1994 Cleveland South Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

It is worth noting that the bridge for the Big Four industrial spur that went West still stands, but it is now owned by the Flats Industrial Railroad.

Green Steel: DRI, HBI and Finex

I had assumed that the CO2 emissions for making steel with blast furnaces was because of the burning of the coke to provide the needed high temperatures to melt the rocks (iron ore and limestone). And the making of the coke itself also produces a lot of emissions. But I've learned that another source of CO2 in the blast furnace is the reduction of the iron ore. "Reduction" means ripping the oxygen atoms out of the iron ore to leave pure iron. The reduction is done by the carbon atoms in the coke combining with the oxygen atoms in the iron ore to create CO2 and CO. If you grab the oxygen atoms with hydrogen instead of carbon, you create H2O instead of CO2. Of course, H2O is simply water vapor, which is not a greenhouse gas. Powering a blast furnace with hydrogen instead of coke is called direct reduced iron (DRI). An intermediate step towards green steel is using natural gas instead of coke. Since natural gas is mostly methane, CH4, this reduces two of the iron's oxygen atoms with hydrogen instead of carbon. So the CO2 emissions are a third of that emitted when using coke.

safe_image for A new Swedish iron processing project could disrupt the global steel industry

This Mitsubishi article below indicates that the cost of hydrogen needs to be an order of magnitude (a factor of 10) cheaper than it is now to be competitive with using coke as the reduction agent. But they expect society will be beefing up the world's hydrogen infrastructure and that those cost reductions will be realized.

safe_image for Mitsubishi Heavy to build biggest zero-carbon steel plant [paycount]
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will build the new hydrogen steel pilot plant at a complex of Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine.   © Reuters
"Iron ore reduction accounts for much of the CO2 emissions in steelmaking. Japanese steelmakers including Nippon Steel are developing hydrogen-consuming reduction processes based on the conventional blast furnace design. Mitsubishi Heavy's plant adopts a process called direct reduced iron, or DRI. New blast furnaces require trillions of yen (1 trillion yen equals $9.6 billion) in investment. Although DRI equipment produces less steel, the investment is estimated at less than half of blast furnaces. For DRI to attain the same level of cost-competitiveness as blast furnaces, low-cost hydrogen will be key. Market costs for hydrogen now stand at around 100 yen per normal cu. meter, estimates the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The government aims to get the hydrogen costs down to 30 yen per normal cu. meter by 2030, mainly via mass production. But for DRI to be feasible in the steel industry, 'the level needs to go below 10 yen,' said an executive at a large steelmaker....Mitsubishi Heavy will capture the steel industry's demand for hydrogen to offset the softer growth prospects for thermal power plant equipment."
Jim Hewett Jr.: Interesting. That mill is no stranger to new technology. VoestAlpine is used to being a pioneer in the steel industry. That is where the very first B.O.F. was developed.
Richard Allison: The whole idea is to inject coke oven gas and hydrogen into tuyeres of blast furnaces to reduce CO2 by 50% by 2030. Blast furnaces will still use a little bit of coke and blast furnaces will never be zero percent carbon so HBI and DRI will be using green hydrogen, not gray hydrogen to be produced and melted down in EAFs and replacing blast furnaces. Blast furnaces will start closing down soon but ones still operating by 2030 will have to have 30% cut in CO2 and all of them by 2050. Some steel companies are accelerating this plan to happen sooner. That is one reason AM sold the US operations. This is a win for steel companies because they will be supplying steel to build hydrogen infrastructure and make steel with much fewer steelworkers.

safe_image for video
[At 2:40 it indicates that the process generates carbon monoxide and hydrogen instead of CO2. Both of those gases are combustible. Although the burning of the CO will create CO2.]

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["Econiq" steel. Is it an EAF and carbon credits that make it a game changer? I was expecting the use of hydrogen instead of coal. Actually, in the article they say "To be fair, this isn't a game changer for Nucor per se." The significance of Econiq is that auto manufactures are accepting it for their use. EAFs have had trouble competing with blast furnaces to make steel that is good enough to be stamped into autos because they can't get rid of some of the impurities in the scrap steel.]

safe_image for World's Dirtiest Clean Energy Project (and Why I'm a Fan) video

Green Steel is steel that is made in an EAF that is powered by an electric generating plant that uses hydrogen as the fuel. Natural gas emits carbon. Car manufacturers that are "woke" to the green economy will require green certificates that any steel they buy will be green steel.

Green steel is what is going to put integrated steel plants out of business by 2050 or before. That is 28 years from now and many steel companies, especially in Europe are going to have green steel in the next few years. Green Steel is going to cost jobs at the blast furnaces, BOFs, coke plants and sinter plants which will be several thousand in the US alone.

Climate change is real because the Earth is not static and has always run in cycles like the sun that has 11 year cycles. As far as I know, man has not been able to change weather let alone climate. My feeling is that it is easier and cheaper to adapt to changes on the Earth. Ruining country's economies and the middle class that makes the US a great country is not rational and about as irrational as using hydrogen which does not emit carbon (which is not a problem) but takes lots of carbon to produce and distribute.

Check out this video that tells the story better than what I can convey.

John Groves

Here is another new Green Steel technology claiming it will be commercial by 2025.....

Startup promises green steel by 2025 as decarbonisation race heats up

https://www.abc.net.au/.../startup-promises.../100811450

[She is a fan because she think the project will prove that transporting hydrogen as a liquid will fail and that will save investing $300 billion in a hydrogen solution that won't work. (Rosie also has a link to a carbon capture video.) Richard evidently thinks it would be cheaper to build a dyke and locks along our coastline than switch steel to green technologies. I think he is wrong that hydrogen would be used to make electricity to run EAFs. If you have hydrogen, blast furnaces can be run cleanly.]

John Groves posted
STARTUP PROMISES GREEN STEEL BY 2025
Basically, Boston Metal plans to run electricity through the iron ore. This is how aluminum is smelted. To make aluminum for planes in WWII is why the TVA built the 1943 Appalachia and 1945 Fontana Dams in the wilderness. of the Appalachia Mountains. If this works, this would be a lot better than the current plan of making hydrogen with electrolysis.

Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) video