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Conrail - Wood River Bridge

Madison County, Illinois
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Photos 

Holt Street Bridge

note the pipeline that now uses the bridge

Photo taken by Kim Harvey in July 2008

Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview
Pratt Through truss bridge over Wood River on Abandoned Conrail and Pipeline
Location
East Alton, Madison County, Illinois
Status
Intact carrying pipeline but closed to all traffic
History
Built 1902
Railroads
- Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (CCC&StL)
- Conrail (CR)
- New York Central Railroad (NYC)
- Penn Central Railroad (PC)
Design
Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 125.0 ft.
Total length: 178.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+38.88536, -90.12173   (decimal degrees)
38°53'07" N, 90°07'18" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/749658/4307993 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Bethalto
Land survey
T. 5 N., R. 9 W., Sec. 17
Elevation
439 ft. above sea level
Inventory number
BH 36803 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

6-panel truss (541)
Alton, Illinois (10)
Built 1902 (406)
Built during 1900s (6,234)
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (95)
Closed (2,409)
Conrail (820)
Deck girder (4,424)
East Alton, Illinois (12)
Girder (7,811)
Have street view (21,724)
Illinois (3,831)
Madison County, Illinois (117)
 New York Central Railroad (404)
Owned privately (1,254)
Penn Central Railroad (528)
Pin-connected (3,097)
Pipeline (34)
Plate girder (6,001)
Pratt through truss (4,555)
Pratt truss (7,945)
Railroad (12,982)
Span length 125-175 feet (3,744)
Through truss (12,829)
Total length 175-250 feet (3,721)
Truss (29,323)

Update Log 

  • April 14, 2017: New photo from Daniel Barnes
  • June 28, 2016: New photos from John Marvig
  • June 22, 2016: Updated by John Marvig: Added information, Correct Railroad, build date
  • May 17, 2016: Updated by Clark Vance: Corrected to railroad bridge from map info
  • February 24, 2014: New photo from Jack Schmidt
  • April 17, 2010: New Street View added by Kim Harvey
  • September 25, 2009: New photos from Kim Harvey
  • March 22, 2009: Updated by Kim Harvey: approx GPS coordinates from terraserver
  • July 4, 2008: Added by Kim Harvey

Sources 

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Comments 

Conrail - Wood River Bridge
Posted June 22, 2016, by John Marvig (marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Bridge was indeed former Big Four (CCC&stL), then New York Central, Penn Central and was likely last used by Conrail (1976-1998). The bridge was reportedly built in 1902, after flooding destroyed both Big Four Bridges in the area.

Holt Street Bridge
Posted May 16, 2016, by Nathan Holth (nathan [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

Looks like maybe some of the old riveted stringer girders were used to block the end(s) of the bridge off too.

Holt Street Bridge
Posted May 16, 2016, by John Marvig (marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Agreed with previous comment. Bridge is very clearly a former railroad bridge.

Holt Street Bridge
Posted March 21, 2012, by Robert F. Schramm (altonrailroader1 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Another mistaken identity.

This bridge is actually the former Big4 (NYC) bridge over Woodriver Creek that was part of that railroads Alton Branch from the Wye Track at East Alton off the Big4 (NYC) Old Line

to the Alton Union Station located on the riverfront near the former Lincoln-Douglas Square. At one time in the early 1900's

before the St. Louis Worlds Fair the Big4 ran commuter trains from Alton Union Station to East Alton to connect with their then mainline trains to St. Louis. The new High Line from Mitchell, Il to Hillsboro, IL rendered the line through East Alton as a secondary branch about 1912 and it was renamed the Old Line before being abandon before the Penn Central merger about 1960.

This line also connected to the Alton Joint Levee Tracks that were shared by all the downtown Alton railroads to reach the steamboat landing on the levee and to switch the Alton flour mills.

Robert F. Schramm