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Old Railroad Bridge

Lauderdale County, Alabama, and Colbert County, Alabama
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Photos 

Looking from Florence side by Dave Reasons (harley130).

The Old Railroad Bridge

Photo taken by Dave Reasons

View this photo on Flickr

Map 

Street View 

Description 

One of the oldest combination vehicular and railroad bridges in Alabama, the Tennessee River Railroad Bridge played a significant role in the early agricultural and industrial development of the Tennessee Valley and specifically of the Quad-City area (Florence, Tuscumbia, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals). During the early part of the Civil War, it was of primary importance in transporting Confederate troops to the Battles of Shiloh and Corinth to various points strategic to the defense of Western Tennessee. After the bridge was rebuilt in 1870, its use was instrumental in recovery from Reconstruction. After the 1930's, it contributed to the prosperity engendered by creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

-- Historic American Engineering Record

Facts 

Overview
Warren through truss bridge over Tennessee River on Walking trail on lower deck, abandon railway on upper deck
Location
Lauderdale County, Alabama, and Colbert County, Alabama
Status
Open to pedestrians
History
First bridge in location built in 1837, rebuilt several times through the years
Builders
- Detroit Bridge Co. of Detroit, Michigan
- Edge Moor Bridge Works of Wilmington, Delaware
- Phoenix Bridge Co. of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Also called
L&N Railroad Bridge
Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge
M&C RR Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+34.78178, -87.66835   (decimal degrees)
34°46'54" N, 87°40'06" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/438849/3849047 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Florence
Inventory number
BH 45572 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (4,361)
Alabama (615)
Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage (9)
Built 1893 (130)
Built during 1890s (1,700)
Civil War (21)
Colbert County, Alabama (20)
Deck girder (2,632)
Detroit Bridge Co. (3)
Edge Moor Bridge Works (12)
Girder (4,670)
HAER documented (862)
Have street view (14,977)
Lauderdale County, Alabama (29)
 Memphis & Charleston Railroad (2)
Norfolk Southern Railway (742)
Open to pedestrians (2,423)
Owned by historical society (41)
Phoenix Bridge Co. (57)
Plate girder (3,396)
Preserved (783)
Rail-to-trail (836)
Tennessee River (28)
Through truss (10,418)
Truss (25,210)
Warren through truss (1,129)
Warren truss (4,471)

Update Log 

  • January 10, 2012: Updated by J.P.: Added categories "HAER documented", "Memphis and Charleston Railroad", "Edge Moor Bridge Works", "Phoenix Bridge Co."
  • August 3, 2011: New photos from Ben Tate
  • August 22, 2010: New photos from James McCray
  • July 2, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
  • July 1, 2010: Added by Dave Reasons

Sources 

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Comments 

Old Railroad Bridge
Posted December 4, 2011, by Ben Tate (benji5221 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

I added this railroad bridge to the Civil War category because it was burned down in 1862 by Confederates during the war. The Union army built a pontoon bridge to cross to the river there.

Here's a link to a drawing of the pontoon bridge being built:

http://travel.nostalgiaville.com/Alabama/florence/fl268.jpg

Here's what it looked like before being burned:

http://travel.nostalgiaville.com/Alabama/florence/fl255.jpg

Old Railroad Bridge
Posted July 2, 2010, by Mike Boehne (mikebon088 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

I believe the Hannibal Mississippi River bridge's vertical lift span was moved from this bridge.