Recent Illinois Comments
Post a comment Contact webmasterOMG!! The destruction is almost unbelievable! What an immense loss.
If you use Google Earth view I think you can see the remains of the butterfly dam that used to stand in the centerline of the canal there at that narrow area just north of the ninth street bridge. Just south of the controlling works. Looks to me like when they removed it from service that they just went south a little bit and just laid it on its side along the western canal bank. Fascinating piece of engineering. I've never heard of another one like it anywhere.
There are actually pictures of this bridge somewhere. I'll see if I can find them. Might be with HAER.
It really wasn't "destroyed" it appears the truss is in good condition, but abutments are tipping over. County does not have the sense to simply rebuild abutments, repair truss, and reopen to traffic. Seeking instead to replace.
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1506810670/Replacing-bridge-near-Washburn-may-take-years-cost-1M
This picture was taken 7 May 2013 from a similar position to the Steve Conto picture from 2012. View is facing south by southeast in both pictures. Note that the span itself APPEARS to be intact; it's the failure of the east pier of the aqueduct that brought it down. Also note the water flowing into Nettle Creek from the I&M Canal. This water flow has already eroded the clay lining of the canal for a distance starting about 30 yards east of the aqueduct site. The longer the delay in doing SOMETHING to contain this flow of water, the more difficult it will be to actually place the aqueduct back in service and rewater the canal. Prior to the aqueduct colapse, the water level at this section of the I&M was at the historic in-service level. You could canoe from about 4 miles WEST of the aqueduct all the way to Chanahon and beyond.
Replacement of the outer section of the north leaf was completed on time this morning, and CTA trains resumed using its upper deck for this morning's rush hour. The Brown and Purple Line 'L' trains carry an estimated 77,000 passengers daily over this bridge. The lower deck remains under construction, and will be closed to cars and pedestrians until November.
Chicago Tribune article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-well-street-bridge-cta,0,4653495.story
Chicago Tribune photo gallery. Last photo is especially interesting, from 1921: http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-130228-wells-street-bridge-pictures/
The I&M/Nettle Creek Aqueduct collapsed early 19 April 2013 due to heavy rains and record-setting flooding in the area. According to published reports, Nettle Creek's level rose to a point where it was roughly equal to the level of the I&M Canal. Between this rise in the level of Nettle Creek and the additional water flowing into the I&M Canal from the unusually heavy rain in the area, the east support wing was undercut and failed. As of 06 May 2013, there are no published reports on plans to reconstruct the aqueduct. However, this aqueduct will have to be reconstructed to preserve this section of the historic Illinois and Michigan Canal.
Google Maps appears to show that the bridge has been demolished.
There were two swing bridges across the Canal at Milan. The railroad bridge was replaced in the late 60's or early 70's by the culvert and fill across the canal and is still used by the Iowa Interstate to reach the industries in Milan on the old Milan sub of the Rock Island Lines. The Rock River bridges were originally built by the Rock Island & Peoria Railway which as owned by the Cable family that also managed the Chicago Rock Island, and Pacific, the Rock Island Lines. When the Hennepin Canal was built, the swing bridge was built so boats could pass. The remains of the turntable in the canal are from the US 67 Highway Bridge that was replaced in the late 40's after the span closest to Rock Island that was right next to the Sears Power Dam collapsed. The tracks that exist were the street car tracks. The Rock Island and Peoria went through Milan and behind the Quad City Airport and then along US 150 through Coal Valley to Orion. The line was abandoned between Milan and Orion in 1941, and the Rock Island secured trackage rights over the Burlington from Colona to Orion to reach the remaining trackage through Cambridge to Peoria. Branching off at the Milan depot was the Rock Island and Mercer County Railroad, also owned by the Cables, to reach their coal mines in Preemption, Sherrard and the town of Cable. The Rock Island Southern leased trackage rights on the line from Southern Junction near Matherville through Milan to reach Rock Island. The lines south of Milan were abandoned in 1952 when the RIS shut down.
While recently driving from West plains Missouri to Nashville Tennesee, pouring rain all the way, I came upon the MS River Bridge quite suddenly & unexpectedly! There was nothing I could do----couldn`t turn around or back up! I was so incredibly terrified my legs were like jelly and I was shaking all over! Three 18-wheelers passed me going the opposite direction, as I white-knuckled the steering wheel, feeling, literally, nauseous from fear! I finally made it to the other side, so relieved I was about to burst into tears, when, around the next bend, suddenly appeared the Ohio River Bridge! I couldn`t believe my eyes!! The rivers were both flooded way over their banks. Somehow, I made it over both bridges, but it took me a long while to calm down! Needless to say, I found a different route back home to West Plains! I have talked about it so much since I got home that my husband said, "you`re makin` me wanna go there!" ( may 1, 2013)
There is no more public access to the island. This bridge was the only way for the public to access the island.
Is there any longer public access to Sylvan Island? The road bridge is closed and the RR bridge appears to be shut off from trails.
"Too much bounce?" Seriously? Whoever inspected this bridge does realize this is a PIN CONNECTED truss bridge, right? Obviously, these bridges do flex noticeably under load. Does this person not know this? The only situation where "bounce" would be of concern is if an underlying issue caused excess flex, and if so, it is the underlying issues that should be described, such as section loss, sinking abutments, etc.
Hopefully Moline makes the better choice to fix the bridge up, rather than simply replacing it.
I wish I had taken some photos of this bridge when it was in it's last months of use. I had just moved to the area in 1991 and found this bridge and the infamous hairpin curve on the other side of the river while exploring the area one Friday evening that Summer. I swear it still had a yellow stop sign at the curve, and those were phased out in the early '50's I think... a real time-warp kind of place.
When thought of as a late 19th century, pre-auto era installation (1899), the grade crossing of the railroad and then turning parallel to the canal to rise in altitude makes more sense, because that thing wasn't built for anything longer than a horse drawn wagon. I'll bet even horse drawn wagons had a helluva time meeting at that curve! I wonder if a 1958 Cadillac could have made the corner even without oncoming traffic! See the www.historicaerials.com site for the aerial view from 1946 in particular. It is an especially clear overhead photo that shows the way it used to be.
The Wells Street Bridge will be closed to CTA rail traffic again for 10 days, starting after the evening rush hour on April 26, 2013, for replacement of the outer half of the north leaf with a fairly exact replica that was prefabricated off site at Bubbly Creek and floated here on a barge. Chicago Transit Authority web site: http://www.transitchicago.com/wellsbridge/
The outer half of the south leaf was already replaced several weeks ago.
And don't worry, Jack Wooten, this is a good historically sensitive rehab/restoration, not a demolition. When done, the only way you will be able to tell which are the new or old parts of the truss structure will be the use of bolts on the new sections instead of rivets. They're intending it to last another 90 years. Look at the videos and photos.
Any bridge fans who can make it to the Chicago Loop April 27-May 5 should come watch, and photograph, this remarkable project underway. The best vantage points will be along West Wacker Drive. Work will be underway 24 hours/day on a precise schedule.
Ridiculous. The bridge already has been made into a one-way couplet. It is sufficient for existing traffic as a result. It appears Section 106 Review will be required. I believe feasible and prudent alternatives to replacement exist.
IDOT wants to replace the Quincy Memorial bridge with a brand new bridge, and will soon begin the first phase of a replacement study for a future bridge, though it may not be until the end of the decade until they actually get around to building it since the first phase of this study is just beginning.
This is the original Quincy Memorial bridge that was built between 1928-30 and serves east-bound US-24 across the Mississippi to Quincy, IL.
There’s also a newer 2 lane cable stay bridge built in the 1980s that serves US-24 west-bound that will at some point be paired with the future bridge.
I guess this comes as no surprise to people on this forum since they also want to replace the US-54 Champ Clark bridge at Louisiana, MO too.
"Illinois will spend $2.24 billion on highway projects in the coming year, including $1 million as the first phase of work to replace Quincy Memorial Bridge. "
"IDOT Deputy Director Roger Driskell said the initial $1 million to prepare for replacement of the Quincy Memorial Bridge will involve environmental work and design studies. Another $2.5 million is in the highway program through 2019.
"We'll hire a consultant and then we'll have a two- or three-year study," Driskell said.
The bridge is more than 80 years old and has been on a priority list for replacement."
There is a picture of the east portal of this old bridge in 4/24/13 State Journal-Register, Springfield's newspaper. It is showing the sandbagging being done in 1943 for the "big flood". It is a "file" picture from the SJ-R.
I hate it when I am right, but I called it during my site visit a mere week before.
The NBC page that clip points to calls the bridge "historic old cast iron". *sigh* I suppose it's asking too much for the news media to get the facts correct.
Bridge might be the old narrow gauge that Western Brick ran across the Salt Fork in order to haul clay from south of the river to the processing plant on the north. The map leads directly north to the U Pull Auto Parts which was the site of Western Brick. That would also explain the brick construction of the piers. As kids Dad would take us for walks across the bridge on Sundays when the plant wasn't open. The nickname for the train was the dinky train because of its smaller size.
Undermined and washed out - http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1431012608/Pony-truss-bridge-washes-out
Sadly, I knew with the storms coming through there that this was very likely to occur.
Another unfortunate loss!
Looks like this bridge finally bit the dust judging by this latest video:
The current bridges are replacement bridges built sometime in the 1980's. The original bridges as built had a grated steel deck which made a distinctive sound when driving over it, hence the name.
Made a field visit to this bridge last Saturday and it was still standing. Its leaning about as far over as the Maple Rapids Road Bridge in Michigan was the last time I ever saw it standing. At this angle, the bridge will become top heavy and is at risk for tipping over like Maple Rapids did. Significant branches are piled up on what's left of the wooden piles. A massive rain of as much as four inches is predicted for this region in the coming days. If this occurs it would be the heaviest rain seen in a couple years in this area. So it might not be standing for long. It will be an unspeakable loss to see a Hammond truss collapsed.
Some pics from Summer 2011 (not mine). I hate to think what it's like it's now.
http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16319754&postcount=36
Shame, as this was one of my favorite spots that time forgot. Now it really will be forgotten.
The thought that entered my brain when I saw this bridge was wow. What a spectacular bridge.
I stopped by here the other day and looks like they might have did a road alignment sometime. the bridge in the pictures looks to be located several hundred feet south of the bridge now used today. the paved and gaurdrails are still standing on it on the east end and is very overgrown with trees, the westend has been leveled and now has houses built there.
next time will have my camera to take some pics
I want to see this giant someday, along with the Cairo bridges and the Caruthersville Bridge. I will also see the merging of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and there is a old bridge at Metroplis, IL that sounds very interesting. I will also go to Lamberts Restaurant at Sikeston and eat like a pig there!!!!!!!I would guess it would take a earthquake of 9 or more on the Richter scale to knock the Thebes bridge down.
Got some bad news - the village is doing some culvert work in this area and the one closest to the house was removed last week and the other one is due to be removed in a few days.
1910 topo shows a combined road and interurban line. The RR is most likely the Rock Island Southern Interurban. The Rock Island line crossing shows in its present location.
I'm pretty confident that this woul actually have been the location of the road crossing (which as one point WAS indeed shared with the local trolley.
The "Rock Island"'s swing bridge across the canal has clearly been replaced by a culvert and earthen fill.
There is an image of this bridge in a rotating gallery on this website: http://www.richs.cc/Page/index.aspx
Who should be contacted regarding the possible relocation/preservation of this bridge? I agree with previous comments. This bridge should be recognized on a national level, and should be at least open to the public. Currently, the owner fenced it off with cameras and a high barbwire fence. At the bare minimum, the fence should be on the other side and a solid deck be added for fishing and recreation purposes. Someone needs to step up with this bridge.
I do not know your concerns on this bridge, but I truly feel someone some wherE suggested all truss bridges need to be destroyed, but if i can any help on finding a way to save the bridge I will help get you in contact with various contacts for support, does your area have a topic or discussion venue, any agency provide form for contact. just a couple of suggestion which I hope will help. I HAVE CONTACTED PRESERVATIONS SITES THEY MAY BE ABLE TO HELP, JUST DO NOT GIVE UP, I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON MARION MEMORIAL AT HALETOWN TN YET EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE THIS BRIDGE READY TO HIT THE TN RIVER, HOPE THIS HELPS YOU MAYBE YOU ARE NOT AS BEHIND AS ME GOOD LUCK AND HERE IS HOPING YOU CAN SAVE THIS
BRIDGE. jackwooten372YAHOO.COM WILL TRY TO KEEP UP WITH
YOUR ENDEVOR. jackwooten 37@yahoo.com
http://www.stb.dot.gov/Decisions/readingroom.nsf/UNID/EE3078C6F5E4B724852569C300518092?OpenDocument
The DOT decision to allow abandonment of this line.
Well, that's one way to recycle! Would this qualify as any kind of railroad bridge, or do railroad bridges require actual rails & trains?
FYI, I believe what the poster below refers to is only a particular stage in the heavy rehabilitation of this bridge. The overall project is longer in duration. My records indicate that expected completion for the entire project is November 2013.
The historic Wells Street Bridge is currently closed for one week for rehabilitation. CDOT and CTA hope to correct the "Serious" superstructure condition noted in the most recent inspection.
The timeline for this project is being kept as short as possible, because of the disruption to Downtown traffic and to the two extremely busy CTA "L" rail lines that run on the upper deck of the bridge. They also want to complete this project before the annual springtime migration of sailboats down the river into Lake Michigan, which will require the bridges to be lifted. While the bridge is closed, "L" passengers are being carried around it on shuttle buses and on (already crowded) Red Line trains. It is a major disruption, affecting the entire North Side of Chicago, because regardless of its historic quality, this bridge is a crucial link whose maintenance is vital.
Actually, this bridge does not exist in any form. When the original was demolished near 2000, there was no replacement even considered.
A couple of buildings show on the recent topo and 1923 shows a different channel but no cemetery.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/illinois/txu-pclmaps-topo-il-jonesboro-1921.jpg
Who would want to be buried on Devils Island?
Was there ever a village on the island and if so, was there a cemetery?
"Sure we'd love this beautiful historic bridge maintained--by someone else!" IDiOTs.
The 30 day removal requirement is patently absurd for a bridge of this size. I seriously doubt IDOT could find a contractor to completely remove a Mississippi River bridge in less than 30 days, even if price were no object, so what hope does anybody else have?
What a load of crap, maintain forever. I actually think it is five years, and then they make up new rules about inspections and maintenance costing a fortune.
check out www.save briarwood.com
Too bad IDOT (or IDiOT as Kim calls them) doesn't take this "maintain forever" stance on their historic bridges! Pretty stinking hilarious that they want someone else to!
Practice what you preach guys!!!
This bridge is up for the taking by IDOT, for FREE! BUT, there is one catch- see article below:
Any takers for the bridge?
I plan to field visit this bridge to see for sure, but I think the unusual structures over the sidewalks are an unusual and creative way to provide outriggers on a pony truss, while not obstructing a cantilevered sidewalk.
Mixed bag here...
Even thought it is a shame that the structural integrity was lost, retaining the trusses was at least better than nothing.
As fascinating as the trusses are, I am more interested in the overhead supports for the walkways that feature some nicely decorated knee bracing. To me these would suggest a bridge that at least dates into the 1890's. Would love to see them up close.
Looks like this one has been through the...
Looking at the I-beams and the bolts this seems to be a fairly late design. Lacing was probably a thing of the past when this was built. The I-beams are stronger than built-up, laced pieces.
Tony: Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that one out. The historic photo has "Riley Lake" scribbled on it, but that may not be right. Both bridges, however, do have very similar portal braces and V-lacing.
This is not the same bridge in the 2 photos...
The current span has just 5 panels and the one in the historic photo has 8.
Long ago MILW "Hiawathas" sprinted across this old bridge.
Here's hoping some fat cat cement company exec wrote a ck to the township for a replacement bridge and road upgrade.
An intermittent tributary of Owens Creek does indeed run through the bridge.
The November pictures Steve took show that the drought this past summer appears to have dried up most, if not all of the water in the stream's channel.
So a creek ran under this?
I can remember living in Beardstown as a kid when the old swing bridge was still in place. It took large barges forever to anchor barges north and south of the bridge while they transported just a few at a time through the narrow channel. We used to always wave at the bridge tenders as we would pass under the bridge in our speed boat or fishing boat. Then when I was in the 3rd grade (1971-72), they replaced it with the current lift bridge, seen here. We thought the most impressive thing about the new bridge was that it was remote controlled from the yard about 1-2 miles south. The bridge tenders house was no more, which was sad.
The deck on this bridge has been replaced in the past three years or so. You can still smell the treatment in the wood when you drive over it
A man hung himself from this bridge about 5-6 years ago.
It was a railroad bridge that carried the CB&Q RR. The tracks crossed Illinois Rt 351 just off the south abutment of the current bridge. If you look east you will see a gravel road with a gate across it--that was the access road that paralleled the CB&Q RR tracks heading for the Illinois River RR lift bridge and was used by the bridge tender and maintenance crews. The tracks ran west from there and crossed the original US Rt 51 which is now the access road to the I&M Canal Lock 14 area. Those still visible piers were for the RR bridge that crossed the canal west of the original US Rt 51. They met up with the Rock Island RR tracks that still run east/west on the north side of the canal. Driving south on the original US Rt 51 you crossed the bridge over the Rock Island RR tracks; then the concrete structure over the canal; then under a steel beam structure on wood pilings that carried the CB&Q RR over the original US Rt 51. My dad remembered in the late 1940's when a truck driver delivering a full carrier of new cars tried to make it under that US Rt 51 RR bridge and created instant convertibles out of the cars on the top level of the carrier.
This bridge is now gone too.
Bridge is gone and replaced.
This bridge has been replaced and is open to traffic.
i live less thain a mile from it and it was cut
You are right Gary!
http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/webdocs/ilhap/county/data/jodaviess/flight4/0bwt2d020.jpg
As from the 1973 IC Iowa Division Track Chart
"W165.1:25'305'; 2-70' TPG Spns, 1-99'3" Bascule Sp. 1-62' Anchor arm conc piers & Abuts, 1914
The bridge was a bascule span up until the early to mid 70's when a derailment took out the lift span.
The taller west spans replaced the bascule spans while the shorter eastern spans were the approach spans.
Waited too long to field visit.
Approach spans for this bridge have collapsed: http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/17366369-418/one-more-bridge-to-cross-find-out-who-owns-dilapidated-span.html
This bridge actually crossed the former Rock Island main line, NOT the Illinois Central! The track pictured is still in place. It is owned by International Mining, and leased to the CSX Railroad. CSX, in turn, has given trackage rights to the Iowa Interstate, who own the line west of Wyanet, Illinois.
Hint of a wreck in 1968. Perhaps some of the N&W railfans could provide details.
Info on Gretz:
As already mentioned, this is the bridge that is jumped near the beginning of "The Blues Brothers". Detailed shots of the gearing and other workings of the bridge are shown as well as a very clear shot of the bridge plate.
The Bing link worked fine for me.
Looking at the view on Bing, there appears to be another pony truss similar to the Lassig span tucked in right next to the building. The Lassig bridge(s) is very significant and it would be nice to see the city relocate it to a park before this complex is someday likely demolished.
Not sure if this Bing link will work or not:
Another possibility is that the bridge is the P&PU's Pekin Bridge. So while the railroad could be correct, the location is not. Also, P&PU permanently abandoned its Pekin Bridge before 1897.
That is not the Peoria & Pekin Union Railway (now Tazewell & Peoria Railroad) bridge. It may be the Peoria Terminal Co. bridge that closed in early 1973 and was dismantled in the summer of 1974.
There was an entire complex along the river that bridges 1&2 were the main access to.
Aside from the Nabisco plant there was a Johns Manville plant on the north bank on both sides of the main street.
If you go to historicaerials.com and put Marseilles IL in the search box and check out the topo maps(sorry the site has no photos outside the Chicago metro area) from 1972 through 1984 you can see how the tracks were laid out.
I agree there's no way a car has crossed this for MANY years. There is also two other bridges on the south side of the building I photoed and listed here. Unless any one has further history I figured as well to leave them all together.
From what I read after a search, there's a lot of blame being placed on deferred maintenance and diverted road tax money.
There might be less need to replace some of the older bridges if more places did like Missouri and made it the law that all money collected as road tax must actually be spent caring for roads.
Bridge now closed to all traffic. Unbelievable that a bridge built in 1964 could have been so badly neglected that it is falling down now. It does not even appear to have been painted since it was built. An amazing case of neglect.
Is this a rigid frame? The slab on top doesn't look separate from the rest of the structure.
I think in remembrance to history a name change is on order.
Good point and that makes a lot of sense. We thought it was quite a bridge for a private party and to get to the other side by road wasn't really that far.
This tunnel was proposed to be bypassed in 1951. This proposed line was called the "airline" and it was to bypass the sharp grades. The feature of the proposed line was a proposed 6,165' bridge over the Mississippi near Bellevue, which would have a 650' cantilevered main span, with numerous 245' and 303' deck truss spans. What a bridge this would have been!
The lack of visible abutments makes me think it was moved here.
Looks as if scrappers are nibbling away. Do the pieces look torch cut?
According to:
http://www.american-rails.com/illinois-interurbans.html
the BP&J only ran north from Pontiac.
In this:
http://dwight-historical-society.org/Documents/Interurban.pdf
it states that the "Bump, Push and Jerk" built culverts and graded south of Pontiac past Chenoa but never built track.
It's possible this was one of the "culverts" and that it was never used.
I did a site visit for this bridge and I am very certain it is older than 1910. It could be from the late 1880s. Looks wrought iron has old style carnegie brands and fishbelly floor beams.
Hmmm....
I assume Drain Dt is shorthand for drainage ditch? I've never seen that one before. 8^B
Changed name from southbound to westbound. Route 66 is an even number and even though it seems more south here its considered east and westbound.
Just a guess, but the probably would have been on the Bloomington, Pontiac, & Joliet Interurban Railroad.
After getting up close and personal I'm saying it was never a route 66 alignment and I'm pretty confident its a rail bridge.
Iroquois County has never preserved a single historic bridge and has been systematically annihilating its historic bridges for the past several years. Now would be a great time to bring an end to the slaughter! This bridge is one of the most unusual bridges in the country and perhaps beyond.
Abandoned ca. 1997
Peoria Journal Star newspaper article on closing of Franklin Street Bridge, December 1993 photos by Larry Brooks, article by Mark Fitton
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