Rock Island and "Wagon" Bridges over Hennepin Canal in Milan, IL

(Satellite, the crossing is now just an embankment in the canal.)

Hennepin Canal Overview

After crossing the canal, the Rock Island had to cross the Rock River.

John Vize posted
The railroad bridge over the Hennepin Canal at Milan, Illinois Jan 6, 1916.
Lloyd Scott Hardin shared

Retro Quad Cities posted
The Hennepin Canal bridge on Big Island, taken in 1957.
[There are several comments about fishing here.]

In the left background is the Rock Island bridge over the Rock River.

Keith LeMay posted
Photo is dated 10/11/70 the swing span on Big Island just before demolition facing Rock Island from Milan

1950/50 Milan Quad @ 24,000

Update: Miles comment confirms that this was the adjacent road bridge. The lady is fishing at the same spot that the comments on the above 1957 photo talks about, we are just facing the East and instead of West.

Retro Quad Cities posted
This young lady and her daughter enjoy fishing in the Hennepin Canal near the 1896 wagon swing bridge at Milan. IL.

Miles W. Rich: Bill Wingler that is the highway bridge, that was replaced in 1949-1950. The photographer is either just in front of, or on, the railroad bridge that was replaced with a fill and culvert circa 1970.

Retro Quad Cities shared

Alfred A. Taylor (81S) Bridge over Nolichucky River near Lamar, TN

(no Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

The Nolichucky Dam survived Hurricane Helen in Sep 2024, but many of the bridges did not survive.

"The flood of 2024 wiped out many of Washington County’s bridges on the Nolichucky River. These bridges include damages to the Earnest and Snapp Bridges, and complete demolition of Taylor, Bailey and Corby Bridges, leaving only the Jackson Bridge and the Elliot or Embreeville Bridges remaining." [HeraldAndTribune]

Mar 9, 2025:

6 of 14 photos posted by Johnson City Aerial Photography LLC with the comment: "Quick update on the progress of the Highway 81S Nolichucky bridge.  Thank you for your hard work and continued progress on reconnecting this important pathway for many."

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I can't tell yet if it is going to use concrete or steel girders. So the label is a guess.

The destroyed bridge was a UCEB (Ugly Concrete Eyesore Bridges).

Street View, Nov 2023

The predecessor bridge was a truss.

HeraldAndTribune, Contributed/Photo by Hosea Bailey

HeraldAndTribune
A 250' (62m) span fell into the river on Mar 20,1957, after a blast at the nearby River Quarry.

Hurricane Helene destroyed the bridge. A replacement bridge opened May 24, 2025.

myTDOT
SR 81 bridge back open! After 8 months of around the clock work, another road damaged from Hurricane Helene is restored. 46 of 49 roads destroyed in the storm are now open in East Tennessee.

Steel Dam on Rock River and Hennepin Canal Lock #30

Dam: (Satellite)

Lock: (Satellite)

Flood Gate: (Satellite)

Historic River Towns and Riverboats posted two photos with the comment: "Hennepin Canal construction of lock #30 circa: 1893. It appears prior to Steel Dam?"

[The comments have more photos of this lock and Lock #32.]

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John Vize posted two photos with the comment: "The Steel Dam on the Rock River, lock # 30 Milan, Illinois under construction circa:1893 and now. This dam was replaced when it was about 100 years old. This provides water depth between lock 29 and 30 on the Rock River section where I live."

Brian QC: Now I miss my fishing back home lol

Lloyd Scott Hardin shared

Dennis DeBruler: Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/fbqVJEZBG2yKvC6n7

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John Vize posted

John Vize commented on his post

John Vize commented on his post

John Vize commented on his post, cropped

Bob Nolen: John Vize This is the actual "Steel Dam" which is only a flood gate. The COE used to open it during floods up until the federal government gave the canal to the state. Another piece of puzzle causing flooding for everyone upstream.

John Vize: Bob Nolen The dam never increased flooding when it was first built. The Mississippi can and does back up all the way over it. You are right about man messing things up. Sea walls everywhere like Rock Island, Milan, Big Island etc. etc. etc.

David Burrell, Sep 2020

clinton boyce, Apr 2022

John Vize posted four photos with the comment: "Then and now on the Hennepin Canal at lock #30, Milan, Illinois."

Lloyd Scott Hardin shared

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27th Street Bridges over Rock River and Hennepin Canal in Moline, IL

(Bridge Hunter broke Mar 22, 2023; Satellite)

Hennepin Canal Overview

Retro Quad Cities posted
Built in 1904 and replaced in 1938, this is the Moline Rock River bridge (27th Street)

I wonder what the 1938 bridge looked like. I doubt that the current bridge was built in 1938.

Street View, Aug 2019

A comment on the above post by Miles W. Rich explained that the 1904 bridge was high enough to clear barge traffic, but the 1938 bridge had a movable span. There was barge traffic until 1951 because this segment of the river was part of the Hennepin Canal. Specifically, the river was used between Steel Dam and Lock #30 on the west side and Lock #29 on the east side.

Satellite

Matt Timion - 4th Ward Alderman - City of Moline, IL posted two images with the comment:

Then & Now: The Rock River Bridge (also known as the "Moline Bridge")

From 1876 until 1898, the Rock River bridge in Moline (27th Street aka Highway 150) was a toll bridge.  It cost cattle 4 cents to cross; a sheep or hog 2 cents; horses, mules or asses were 5 cents unsaddled, 10 cents if saddled; and 15 cents for a wagon drawn by a horse or mule, each additional animal cost 5 cents each.  The city provided a home for a city employee to live on site and collect tolls. (thank you Retro Quad Cities)

When the bridge was rebuilt in 1876, the Rock River was not considered navigable by boat. The bridge was used for livestock, pedestrians, wagons, and eventually trains cars to cross the bridge. Monthly reports of the revenue generated at the bridge were posted in the Moline Review-Dispatch.

In 1897, while constructing the Hennepin Canal, the Federal Government sued the city of Moline, referring to the bridge as an obstruction. The Federal Government demanded that the city rebuild the bridge at a higher level so that boats could pass underneath. The city said it could not comply because they did not have the money to rebuild the bridge.

The city attorney traveled to Chicago and had a federal judge pause the daily fines against the city for non-compliance, and then traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby Congress to fund the reconstruction themselves.

In April of 1898 the Federal Government settled the case and agreed to pay $25,000 to the city for reconstruction of the bridge to allow boat traffic.

By April 1900, this bridge was finished construction for the cost of approximately $30,000. The bridge no longer charged tolls, and was owned by the city until 1921, when the state took possession.

The postcard here shows the bridge the Federal Government paid to have rebuilt, soon after construction. This bridge was the fourth time the bridge was built, and would not be the last.

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1856+1906 ?/DL&W Nay Aug Tunnel in Scranton, PA

Western Portal: (Satellite)

Eastern Portal: (Satellite)

I don't know who owns this railroad route today.

Metrotrails posted two photos with the comment:

Then and Now Series: Nay Aug Tunnel seen from a viewing area on Davis Tr

ail, Nay Aug Park in Scranton PA, on our hike, compared to the mid 1900s construction photo at the site, photographer unknown (if you know, please help us to give credit).

The original tunnel was constructed in 1856, and the second, with concrete facing, was added in 1906. The historic photo shows bridge construction at the west portal of the tunnel, over Roaring Brook, likely following the Flood of 1955.

Metrotrails shared

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Part of a then and now compilation found here: https://www.facebook.com/metrotrails/posts/1423337651036102

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LC-D4-11624, D4-11625 [P&P], c1900

TripAdvisor
"Steamtown train entering Nay Aug tunnel "

The route was the DL&W.

1947/57 Scranton Quad @ 24,000

Lost/Nickel and 1921,2000 Million Dollar Bridges in Fairmont, WV

Nickel: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite, the piers are extant.) "Nickel" was the name because the toll was a nickel.

Million Dollar: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite) Also named Robert H. Mollohan and Jefferson Street

Thomas S Miller posted
Passenger station. “Million Dollar Bridge “ in the background. Nickel bridge on the left.

 

Given the tie-bar diagonal members, I presume this was a pin-connected truss.

looking west, wvhistoryonview via ArchivedBridgeHunter_nickel

 

Thomas S Miller posted
[The building by the river was the B&O Depot.]

The Million Dollar Bridge is 1248' (380m) with a span length of 279' (85m). [BridgeHunter]

Street View, Jul 2021

1909,2003 Shelby Street and 2004 Gateway Bridges over Cumberland River in Nashville, TN

1909: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; HAER; Satellite) 

2004: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

I presume the name of the Shelby Street Bridge was changed to the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in 2003 when it was rehabbed as a pedestrian bridge.

The 1,777' (572m) long Shelby Street Bridge has a main span of 318' (97m). [HistoricBridges]

The 1,600' (488m) long Gateway Bridge has a main span of 545' (116m).

Shelby Street Bridge

Street View, Jun 2009

Gateway Bridge

Street View, Jun 2018

 

HAER TENN,19-NASH,22--1
1. February 1998 AERIAL VIEW OF SOUTH SIDE OF BRIDGE: RIVER SPANS AND APPROACHES. LOOKING NORTH. - Sparkman Street Bridge, Spanning Cumberland River, Nashville, Davidson County, TN

"Significance: The bridge possesses state level engineering significance as an example of the through Parker and camelback truss types and for its uncommon concrete trusses. The bridge possesses local significance as a historic river crossing connecting downtown Nashville with East Nashville." [HAER_data]

2016 photo by Ben Tate, cropped, via BridgeHunter_2004

1909 is getting rather late for pin-connected construction. It is nice that an historic truss was preserved.

Brenden McCormack, Feb 2019

Alex Hamrick, May 2020

Janey Anderson posted

Well, I wasn't sure it would happen BUT I did find something appropriate to post for you Ship Junkies in Nashville today!  Tug Carolyn Lamprey (built 2019 by Bourg Drydock) and her barge came pushing along the Cumberland river with a full load, just when I was on top of the John Seigenthaler pedestrian bridge taking in the sights.

*Tug Carolyn Lampley, is named for the sister of the late Ron Hunter, who founded and was president of Hunter Marine Transport—a barge and towing company with more than a dozen towboats—that Kent Furlong bought in 2018. Hunter died in 2017 after a 40-year career, the capstones of which were building the barge line as well as developing a bulk terminal operation and a sand and gravel dredging enterprise.

That's all I got!! 

Sept. 23, 2024

HistoricBridges explains that the concrete trusses on the west side had to be replaced after just a few years because the defective concrete started spalling. But I see they lasted on the east side. This is why the label "bridgeArch" was added to these notes.

Street View, Jan 2025