Recent Georgia Comments

The correct location is "33 47.165 N 84 21.833 W"

@Brookridge Dr NE and Elkmont Dr NE

I wonder if the Google camera car got permission from the sexton? Looks like they drove right in.

It was very likely built over the deep channel, but over time the river has changed it's course slightly and the part under the bridge has silted in. The river has meandered and left oxbow lakes that can be seen in the vicinity on satellite views, so it was probably a lot different 100 years ago.

So I guess Google Street View is okay to photograph this bridge.

According to the site the images are from, this bridge was built with a movable span so that the river would still be navigable by steamboats during times of high water.

Also worth noting as that those pictures were taken during October 2012, when Georgia, as well as most of the country was experiencing a drought.

Why would they build the moveable span over the shallow part of the river?

It's a shame there's no water under the bascule span... ;)

The bridge shown is the 5th Street Bridge. Here is a photo of the swing span pier.

Is the Rogers Bridge still over the river? I am a descendant of the Rogers. Yes, they were married to the Cordery sisters and their mother was an indian, Susannah Sonicooie. She and her husband had a trading post and she last lived in Old Town Suwanee.

Took a visit to this bridge, still a beauty.

Old Kings Ferry bridge drawing.

Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.

Ocmulgee River railroad bridge drawing.

Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.

Ocmulgee River bridge drawing.

Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.

Houlihan Bridge drawing.

Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.

Flint River Railroad bridge drawing.

Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.

Structurally deficient is accurate, but still there after almost 100 years.

Amazing what is hidden in the tree line ignored by the average passerby.

If Federal Funds or Federal Agency involvement applies to this bridge project, and the bridge is eligible for the National Register as stated, Section 106 should apply.

The county plans to take down the steel bridge. The community is against this waste of tax payer money. They plan to move it, and build another one in its place. That bridge holds alot've memories for all residents that live around there.Do you have any suggestions how we can save this bridge? It is eligible for the National Registery of Historic Places.

Wilmington River drawbridge in Thunderbolt.

Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.

A 6th street railroad bridge drawing.

Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.

It was a nice half mile walk to see no bridge, on to the next one.

Went on a visit to this bridge 7.14.13, it is gone. Closed road leading to it look maintained.

I was poking around on Google Maps and found where the old road that lead to this bridge enters the water - it wouldn't surprise me if this bridge was inundated instead of torn down in 1983 when the lake was filled.

Any Georgia Bridgehunters with a boat and sidescan sonar? Inundated bridges fascinate me. Is there a category for that?

Bridge replacement being discussed:

http://www.times-herald.com/Local/585443-20130707ArncoBridgeUpdate-SQ

Hey Eddie, that 90 vehicles a day is the same one, General Lee. lol

Went to see this bridge today, a wonderful sight to see how it was done many years ago. To bad the Builders plaque is gone, shows it here in May 2010 pics so it lasted 80 years whom ever took it I hope it fell off your mantel on your head and gave you some insight to swiping something that is not yours.

This bridge was demolished in April 2013.

http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2013/04/03/edgewood-avenue-bridge-is-falling-down-falling-down-falling-down

The bridge is very pretty. After spending a couple hours on the bridge,it was clear that there was no danger if you were on foot. It is a great place to visit and explore.

Looks like on the center of the bridge they have an American flag that lights up at night.

They are currently behind the Kawanis fairground, right by the Griffin airport, and the driving range/second hole of the Griffin City Park golf course. If you turn at the fairgrounds, there is a dirt road that keeps ongoing--follow it, and the bridge parts are right before the woods--just a month ago my children and I explored them.

This bridge has generated quite a bit of conversation, so I decided to visit.

It certainly looks like a cable-stayed bridge, but in fact, it is not a cable-stayed bridge. It is on private property, and after talking with the owner, he explained the bridge. He's in steel fabrication, and calls it a "beam-style" bridge, built by his father-in-law, 47 years ago.

He says he attached the cables on the side himself, and although they look like cable stays, they are there to keep his wife from accidently driving off the bridge, 30 feet below into Lookout Creek. Closer examination that I made indicates they do not support the weight of the bridge mid-section at all. If you look closely at Pictures 9, 17, 22 and 55 of the pics I took, you can see how the beams actually absorb all of the weight.. in fact, they have developed a sag in the middle. The owner is aware of that, and is working to fix it. After 47 years, they don't show any signs of undue stress.

He says the county condemned it several years ago, but lifted the condemnation after ending the county's maintenance right about where the entrance pics are. Frankly, I don't think the county wanted the responsibility.

I visited here yesterday, it hasn't changed much in 4 years. I captured some more photos of the tunnel. Still looks to be in decent shape though perhaps the creek running threw the tunnel has gotten worse. There is also a hugh sign of a lot of visitors visiting the tunnel which is good in ways, but I worry about the tunnel being ruined or damaged by them. A lot of four wheelers seam to use it to get from one side of the mountain to the other. I think it would be great if the silver comet trail had a extension that took you up to the tunnel, threw it, and then back down to the trail on the other side. Would make for a more scenery and fun ride threw the paulding wildlife management area and would help to preserve the tunnel. If anyone is interested in photos I have about 20+ just contact me.

Lindsay, nice reflection shot, thanks for sharing!

Turned out beautiful! Wanted to share.

Essentially just looks like a massive caisson/lolly column if you ask me.

I have to agree with Mr./Ms. Anonymous. I believe the center pier was cast in place just like the fixed span columns.

From what I've seen on this web site I think the central pier was always encased in steel.(iron ?) Anyway, beautiful bridge.

As of 2/5/13 at noon, this bridge has been closed with dim prospects of re-opening.

http://www.times-herald.com/Local/20130206ArncoBridgeClosing-MOS

Also, location should be adjusted slightly:

33.416539,-84.852034

MODERNE/NON-HISTORIQUE!

Hurrah! Hurrah! A UCEB come and see. Hurrah! Hurrah! Concrete will set you free.

So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea, while spotting UCEBs in Georgia.

MODERNE/NON HISTORIQUE

http://www.walb.com/Category/240202/video-landing-page?clipId=8169140&autostart=true

Video of first main arch span coming down.... Sad.

oops, I see that Meeks Road is a county road. Sorry about that. So I guess the bridge is either maintained by the county or by a private party?

Is this bridge privately owned and maintained? Is Meeks Road a private road, a county road or a state road?

When I said I liked bridges painted to stand out from their surroundings, this isn't what I meant.

http://www.tpl.org/what-we-do/where-we-work/georgia/rogers-bridge.html

Couple of clarifications: this bridge connects Gwinnett county to present day city of johns creek, fulton county. Alpharetta is several miles to the west. Just because your mail is from alpharetta does not mean you are located in that city. When the bridge was built, north fulton county was milton county. That changed in 1932 when milton co was taken over by Fulton co. Cherokee county took parts of milton co to the west and north. The pipeline is carrying water. If you put your ear to it you can hear water flowing.

The phone numbers posted on the bridge are not correct. How do I contact a bridge tender to schedule an opening?

Interesting. The Whipple span appears to have the same portal bracing as that Mill Creek Bridge in Fort Scott, Kansas that many of us have been pondering. Of course, I suspect both bridges were built by different companies, but perhaps the companies obtained materials from the same fabricator.

http://bridgehunter.com/ks/bourbon/mill-creek/

I'm removing the "railroad" category from this bridge. I am now convinced it was not used for the Lockheed nuclear site railroad.

The final point in convincing me is the terrain. I looked at the topographical data. From the bridge, the road north climbs much to steeply for a conventional railroad. The road south isn't quite as extreme, but still a serious slope for a railroad. The road to the east, however, is just exactly what I would expect. Some of the maps even label this one "Rail Road". The alignment effectively follows the contour lines.

So, for me the weak arguments against it being a railroad bridge are: it was built to early, the deck is too wide, construction is lightweight, and the other two railroad crossings were girders

Stronger arguments are: the map in "radrpt2002_dfw.pdf" shows the railroad ending south of the bridge, the various texts I found mention a railroad only between the reactor and the hot cell area which would not involve crossing at this bridge, and the alignment of the road crossing at the bridge could not be used for a conventional railroad.

I'm convinced. But if someone is equally convinced that it _was_ used by the railroad, and adds the category back in, I'm not going to fight it. *smiles*

That was a very interesting bridge hunt.

I guess I made things confusing when I moved the map pin to the blue trail crossing instead of entering the coordinates I had arrived at.

Since the default map is a Google map, I couldn't see the bridge but could see the blue trail crossing.

Andrew, a minor point about the bridge design description. This is a 5 panel Pratt because the end post to hip vertical counts as a panel.

And get used to the frustration of not being the fastest. Luke is _so_ fast he can update the page in less time than it takes me to reload it!

I'm not convinced it this bridge ever had the railroad on it. Based on the map in this PDF Andrew linked

http://www.gaepd.org/Files_PDF/gaenviron/radiation/radrpt2002_dfw.pdf the reactor is just south of this bridge and the railroad didn't cross the Etowah River here.

The map in this page http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=405686 shows this bridge as "existing". It doesn't distinguish between rail and automobile roads - but those two maps seem to match. None of the data that I'm seeing has the railroad north of the river, west of the horseshoe bend.

the coordinates we have are correct. 34.3683, -84.1650 is what is given by the Etowah River Water Trail Point Of Interest marker at mile 44.24, just west of that horseshoe bend:

http://etowah.secondsitellc.com/interactiveMap.php

and that POI links to this picture that I posted earlier today:

http://etowah.secondsitellc.com/DawsonForest.php?i=1

So ... good hunting everyone, well done! Found that bridge, the abutments for 2 others, and the Shoal Creek Rd bridge that was narrow gauge RR too [this is the Red trail/Blue trail/P7 road crossing] see 34.35605,-84.140089 in Bing, and see: DawsonForest005.jpg from

http://www.advrider.com/forums/printthread.php?t=405686&pp=100 (11-28-2008 4:05pm post)

4 bridges for the price of 1. Nice.

Drew

this link

http://northgeorgiamountainramblings.wordpress.com/

says it was a narrow gauge RR, and this canoeing brochure

http://dawsoncounty.org/uploads/files/parksandrecreation/Canoe_Put-in_Brochure.pdf

shows where "Bridge #1" and "Bridge #2" were, both of which were blown up when the GNAL nuke squad left in 1971. These are some of the coordinates we found earlier.

Ok, this is getting frustrating because you guys are faster at all this than I am! :-)

That's Luke posting, BTW.

That could also be the case. For example: http://bridgehunter.com/ia/jackson/bh53101/ (the image is from 1935 when the MILW was scrapping the line.) appears to be a very lightweight bridge (what you can see of it) when compared to a heavier gauge line like this bridge: http://bridgehunter.com/ia/scott/2930/ .

We could be talking narrow gauge RR, or a very small diesel switch engine. Neither would need full scale RR strength.

I agree, it doesn't look like a normal railroad bridge - but this was not a general freight railroad. It was a dedicated, remote controlled train that carried irradiated stuff from the reactor site to the laboratory. Not proof, but it wouldn't have to be as heavy as a general freight bridge would be.

Add to that, the brige in the photo is almost certainly build before 1950. And the deck is too wide. That's about when Lockheed made this area a nuclear research site. And obviously the area wasn't used for nuclear activities when the bridge was built (probably before 1920).

So - was it a automobile bridge already there? Was it moved there? Was the train light enough it ran across a pre-1920 automobile bridge?

Perhaps, It doesn't seem to me like a railroad bridge either.

This looks extremely lightweight for a railroad bridge. I can't say for sure that it was not used by a RR but it looks very much like a ca. 1900 vehicular bridge to me. I am not familiar with this area at all, but could the RR have used another bridge in the immediate area?

Yes, I'd added the blown-up girder bridge across the river, I just linked it as a related bridge and am waiting on permission from a Flickr user to us an image of the abutments.

You can see a sideview of the bridge at the :53 mark in the video at http://www.dawson.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92 which confirms we're dealing with a 3 panel Pratt.

Apparently this is an old RR bridge, on the stubb end of North Gate Rd, a rail line that once supplied the Georgia Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory

depending on how you define the end of N Gate, the bridge could be at

34.368342,-84.165598

34.368316,-84.165586

34.376667,-84.187335

34.386371,-84.192656

34.360916,-84.179001

or several other spots where hiking trails or old logging roads give out just before the river.

and here is a hiking map for the area, which is the Atlantic Tract of the Dawson Forest WMA

http://www.georgiaoutdoors.com/hunting/WMAmaps/DawsonForestAtlantaTract.pdf

which shows Google's Clark Rd as Bagwell Rd, shows the tail end of North Gate as River Rd which neither Google nor Bing show ... etc. It almost seems like some darn secret government conspiracy. Oh wait, IT IS. Because this entire WMA property is where the super secret Lockheed Georgia Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory was back during the cold war!

http://www.gaepd.org/Files_PDF/gaenviron/radiation/radrpt2002_dfw.pdf

note the Hot Zone picture on page 2, which shows a RR crossing about here 34.356244,-84.146519

and then pull that up in Bing ... and Houston, we have abutments!

You're never going to see such a tiny truss skeleton with a satellite shot from either Google or Bing.

Rail Road is Clark Road is blue trail/yellow trail,

Sweetwater is North Gate Road south of Rt 53,

Shoal Creek Rd is P7 road inside the park

here is a map that shows the bridge

http://etowah.secondsitellc.com/DawsonForestMap.php

here is the bridge and a description of how to get to it

http://anybodyseenmyfocus.blogspot.com/2011/12/dawson-forest-wildlife-management-area_04.html

Here is a close up; nothing is left but the truss itself http://etowah.secondsitellc.com/images/Dawson_Forest/DSCN3097.jpg

Had to cut this in parts cuz of server only letting me post 3 links

On the subject of the railroad bridges associated with the nuclear facility, everything would have been marked on US government maps and probably on Lockheed documents, good luck sweet-talking them into letting you look at them. All the railroad tracks, ties, and bridges were removed (the bridges were blown up and, apparently, fragments can be found in the woods.).

Fun fact: The only building that remains standing is what was called the "Hot Cell," and it is still somewhat contaminated.

The railroad was controlled remotely and carried samples from the hot cell building to the reactor, where they were blasted by hard radiation as the reactor was raised out of its shielding. The railroad then brought the now highly radioactive samples back to the hot cell, where they were studied chemically and mechanically inside the cell with remote manipulators. The hot cell was too hot and far too radioactive for humans to enter, even when no samples were present, due to the heavy irradiation at the time.

They didn't demolish the hot cell building because it was thought that the dust raised by demolition would drift and cause further environmental contamination. It was left to sit until the isotopes present decayed to less harmful levels. It's fenced off so people won't go in and stir up dust.

Whoopsie! I wasn't looking directly at the trail crossing and didn't pan far enough to to the right. Good job Don.

Don, that sure looks like a truss brige to me!

From the map and your description, I gather the position is 34.36840,-84.16496. I'm changing the lat/long.

My map call the road north of the river North Gate Rd. The Blogspot photo Luke linked to, from the text, would have to be taken facing south. That too fits with what I see in the Bing image.

Good work, all!

This page has a map of the nuclear site. There are two bridges listed on a line that my US Census TIGR map shows as Sweetwater Church road.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=405686

But only one is across the Etowah River at +34.356014, -84.140101 - though my map calls that Shoal Creek Rd.

The other - I think more probable - is at +34.381922, -84.152377. This is still on Sweetwater Church Rd. and the road looks much more overgrown on Googlearth.

There is another line that could be the railroad but isn't listed as such. If that line is the rail alignment, there would be two bridges on that one too. That line makes it's northern crossing at 34.364582, -84.148905 which is pretty close to the point Luke has for the railroad bridge.

Oh, yeah. Those screenshots were courtesy of Microsoft Bing Maps and their imagery providers.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time my brain added details that weren't there, but here's what I think I see.

On the map image, I connected with yellow dots Sweetwater Road and hwy 318, with a crossing at the location I cited in Bing Bird's Eye.

On the screenshot from Bing Bird's Eye, I have marked with red arrows where the old road approaches the bridge from north and south.

The blue arrow points to a portal member near it's upper hip joint. I can also see what looks like the bottom portion of a parallel portal member a short distance to the west of it, and possibly a vertical with a floor beam hanging down from the hip joint.

It looks like a top portal beam on the north a short distance below the red arrow. Possibly a vertical just northeast of the blue dot.

I wonder if Sweetwater Rd was renamed North Gate rd for the purposes of the wildlife area? I.e. Road from the north gate?

I can't find it, it's supposed near the end of North Gate Road according to this: http://anybodyseenmyfocus.blogspot.com/2011/12/dawson-forest-wildlife-management-area_04.html

There is nothing at that spot in Bird's Eye, Don. The coordinates I'd used were from the Flickr image, but that was too far from the river. I'm move the pin to each river crossing of the trail and open a Bird's Eye View of it and see if I can't find it.

Enter 34.3684,-84.165 into Bing Bird's Eye view, then look for the truss. I can't see it in Bing Aerial view.

It really isn't visible on Google. Look near Blue Trail, just south of where Yellow Trail meets Blue Trail, at the river.

Possibly older Google imagery would show it, depending on daylight and season conditions.

Luke, do you have specific lat/long data? Or did you just put in something that's in the area?

We used to hang out here a lot in the early 80's. Rumor had it that this bridge was haunted by a woman who had hung herself from the bridge after her husband was shot by the Forsyth County Sheriff. Supposedly that also happened at the bridge. It was very spooky at night but very cool. I'm glad to see it hasn't fallen down yet. It should be saved and made into a pedestrian path over the river..

The historic trusses are supposed to be in storage at an airport: http://www.griffindailynews.com/view/full_story/17987259/article-Bridge-to-be-moved-Monday-morning?instance=home_news_lead_story

This bridge is currently being removed for a newer one. I am a Griffin resident and hate to see it go.

On the contrary Cathy... It's a real beauty that needs some TLC so it will last another hundred years!

This bridge is not ugly!

I have a couple of photos that I took in January 1980 of this bridge before the 1984 restoration. It's nice to see it's been updated and repaired, and the area cleared into a nice park.

Bridge is currently closed, though it does appear they are working to repair it.

This bridge is being studied for replacement. Unfortunately the replacement bridge appears to be a concrete cookie cutter. If you want to see it in person, make plans to do so over next couple of years. For latest details on the replacement plans, check the Georgia DOT website.

Hi My name is Dwayne.My grandfather use to tell me about crossing Settles Bridge when it once had wood on it.But that had to have been some time ago.As a teenager,some friends and i use to go to the bridge and walk across the I beams to the Cumming side.I've also jumped off that bridge from the middle of the lower beam and off the very top in the middle.Was frighting at the time but i done it anyways.I've spent alot of time there.Whether it was taking walks or just watching the the water flow past.Really enjoy that place.Hope someone can save that bridge from collapsing into the river.That's part of both county's history.

Already nearly 900 people from Albany and across the nation have signed an online petition to promote the re-purposing of this Bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. This option, which is both practical and feasible, follows similar successes in Columbus and Chattanooga. A pedestrianized Broad Avenue Memorial Bridge is critical to the revitalization of historic downtown Albany and its Riverfront. The petition can be found at change.org:

http://www.change.org/petitions/save-albanys-historic-broad-avenue-memorial-bridge-2

It is a shame that the wooden flood plain trestle that extended beyond this bridge (on into Lyerly) was burned. Rumor has it by a dimwitted local who was worried about people cossing 'his land' during the rails to trails project for this line. I wish I had gotten photos of that before it happened.

The bridge is still there as of 02/21/2012. It did not wash away. Carroll County has purchased the property on the west side of the river and will incorporate the remains of the bridge into a new 400+ acre park.

this bridge is seen in a scene up courageous, a recent movie released to theaters. I would post a picture but I'm pretty sure that is copyrighted material. But I double checked its 4 minutes and 48 seconds into the movie.

Decomissioning Ceremony on February 11, 2012 at 11 AM by the SOWEGA Veterans Coalition which consists of both American Legion Posts 30 & 512, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2785, Marine Corps League, Air Force Sergeants Assn, Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Vets Assn and Fleet Reserve. The last performance of it's type by the U.S. Marine Corps Band will be playing for the ceremony which will honor those in WWI for whom the bridge was dedicated to.

Once the new bridge is completed, it will be recomissioned with WWI dedication plaques restored. Since it will technically be a new bridge, a plaque will be added and the bridge re-dedicated to include those who served since WWI.

Does this warrant a change of status for this bridge to "dual use"?

http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2012-01-20/truck-stuck-railroad-bridge

What are those things that appear to be bridge pilings on the south-west bank relative to the RR bridge?

Help to promote the re-use of this Bridge -- possibly as a pedestrianized crossing! There is a new Facebook group with the aim to "Save the Broad Avenue Bridge" -- and nearly 700 fans have already voiced their support. Join the Facebook group in order to keep up with the latest news on restoring the Bridge and to learn how to help in this important effort.

This is the Flint River in Bainbridge just northeast of Lake Seminole.

Note that this is one of the only historic bridges in this entire region which has nearly zero historic bridges. I recall communicating with someone about this bridge through email a while ago. Let me give you the barf bag I used then!

Sure....let's replace a beautiful open-spandrel arch with a hideous structure that looks more like an arched railroad girder.

Nathan...I need one of your barf bags!

It's about time that penalties start being assessed toward bridges that are allowed to deteriorate "beyond repair".

According to the attached article, this bridge was closed to traffic on 2/12/09 after an underwater inspection revealed footing damage (need to change the bridge status). GDOT is moving forward with a replacement bridge and plans to demolish the current structure, but there is a local effort to keep the existing existing bridge for pedestrian use:

http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2011/nov/30/should-current-broad-avenue-bridge-be-saved-growin/

View attachment #1 (PDF document, version 1.5, 95392 bytes)

so more research indicates that George left the family business and started his own, that went on to become a competitor, so I was completely wrong. Will add that to the timeline. Please excuse.

I've been working on some research on King Bridges. George was a family member that was put in charge of sales and based out of Des Moines. I don't think he was the Bridge Builder, which would have been King Bridge Co. I'm still trying to find out the dates when the name of the Company changed but I did read most of this on the King website in a speech by Alan King Sloan.

I'll post what I have. There seem to be some dates that don't totally jive, but still a work in progress.

A new paint job has the bridge looking a lot better; some nice photos accompany this article:

http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2011-11-28/historic-cemetery-bridge-restored

(I guess if you are a newspaper reporter, getting photos is less of a problem).

Bridge now closed to traffic since the new bridge was built slightly downstream and Rex Road was widened and re-routed about two years ago. The pony truss bridge is now a pedestrian only structure and is slated to be the centerpiece of a redeveloped historic Rex, Ga.

The bridge is still functional. Although the train does not go to Mineral Bluff, it could. The line is intact between Murphy Junction and Mineral Bluff and periodically hosts railroad motorcar trips. The depot at Mineral Bluff has been refurbished and houses a model railroad club. The portion of the line that was removed was from Mineral Bluff to Murphy, NC. The line from Murphy to Andrews and further east is still intact and is part of the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad.

This bridge has been removed. A new bridge was opened to traffic in 2010.