Bridgehunter.com | First Cairo Railroad Bridge

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Book photo: Overview

This photo comes from George S. Morison's 1892 book, "The Cairo Bridge"

Photo archived by the Historic American Engineering Record

Overview: Lost through and deck truss bridge over the Ohio River carrying the Illinois Central Railroad in Cairo
Location: Cairo, Alexander County, Illinois, and Ballard County, Kentucky
Status: Replaced by the current bridge, reusing many of the piers in the process
History: Built 1889 under engineer George S. Morison; replaced 1949-52
Builders: - Alfred Noble of Stockholm, Sweden
- E.L. Corthell
- George S. Morison of New Bedford, Massachusetts
- Union Bridge Co. of Buffalo, New York & Athens, Pennsylvania
Design: From Illinois to Kentucky:
One Pratt deck truss span, 106 ft.
Seventeen Pratt deck truss spans, each 150 ft.
Two pin-connected, 17-panel Whipple through truss spans, each 518.5 ft.
Seven Whipple through truss spans, each 400 ft.
Three Pratt deck truss spans, each 249 ft.
Twenty-one Pratt deck truss spans, each 150 ft.
One Pratt deck truss span, 106 ft.
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 518.5 ft.
Total length: 20,461.0 ft. (3.9 mi.)
Also called: The Grandest Bridge in the World
Approximate latitude, longitude: +37.02302, -89.17532 (decimal degrees)
37°01'23" N, 89°10'31" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 16/306493/4099639 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:: Cairo
Inventory number: BH 15012 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

First Cairo Railroad Bridge

Posted December 9, 2006, by Greg

This Bridge is huge