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Possum Trot Railroad Bridge

Vermilion County, Illinois
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Photos 

Photo taken by Lori Bernard in December 2009

Map 

Street View 

Description 

The highest bridge over the Middle Fork River at 80 feet above the water and about 70 feet over land.

Facts 

Overview
Abandoned Deck girder bridge over Middle Fork Vermilion River on former Conrail Railroad west of Danville
Location
Vermilion County, Illinois
Status
Abandoned, but intact
Future prospects
Bridge is planned to become part of the 24.5 mile Urbana to Danville Kickapoo bike trail and be converted to a pedestrian bridge.
History
Built 1921 for the Peoria and Eastern Railroad, abandoned ca. 1980's
Design
Deck plate girder
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 100.0 ft.
Total length: 1,335.0 ft.
Deck width: 10.0 ft.
Also called
Middle Fork River High Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.11865, -87.72849   (decimal degrees)
40°07'07" N, 87°43'43" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/437923/4441180 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Danville SW
Inventory number
BH 43972 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Abandoned (1,374)
Available for reuse (162)
Built 1921 (389)
Built during 1920s (7,033)
Conrail (46)
Deck girder (1,802)
Girder (3,241)
Have street view (9,908)
 Illinois (2,500)
Owned by railroad (4,052)
Peoria & Eastern Railroad (6)
Plate girder (2,253)
Railroad (4,083)
Span length 100-125 feet (3,300)
Total length 1000-2500 feet (1,217)
Vermilion County, Illinois (82)

Update Log 

  • July 24, 2012: New photos from Jacob P. Bernard
  • February 4, 2012: New photos from Jacob P. Bernard
  • February 2, 2012: New photos from Jacob P. Bernard
  • May 12, 2010: New photos from Jacob P. Bernard
  • April 13, 2010: New Street View added by Craig Philpott
  • April 13, 2010: New photos from Jacob P. Bernard
  • February 6, 2010: New video from Jacob P. Bernard
  • January 30, 2010: Added by Jacob P. Bernard

Sources 

  • Jacob P. Bernard - jacob_bernard [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Craig Philpott - cphilpott [at] puc [dot] edu
  • Mike Roegner
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Comments 

Middle Fork River Trestle
Posted February 4, 2010, by Michael Roegner (roegner [at] soltec [dot] net)

Here's a few pics of what's holding the bridge up. Notice the bracing on the crown of the piers. Also visible is one of several old abutments from an earlier bridge. I can't find any information about the previous bridge. The original bridge at this location was a Howe truss built in 1868 by the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad. The bridge had timber approaches and cut stone abutments. No info though as to whether is was a deck or through truss, or if it was metal or wood construction.

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

Middle Fork River Trestle
Posted February 3, 2010, by MIchael Roegner (roegner [at] soltec [dot] net)

Here's a photo with a train @ 1970. The bridge was built in 1921 for the Peoria & Eastern Railroad. Last user was Conrail. Current plans are to include the bridge in the Urbana to Danville Kickapoo Bike trail.

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