Thanks Mike ! I was thinking about asking you and your wife to Tour Guide the Hazleton with me ! I've been over the Wabash Cannonball in June 2015 but ready to go Again.
Melissa, make sure you go early spring or the poison ivy will get you. Also, you must go in from the south. While your in the area, try to find Long Pond in Gibson. It's by the power plant in Petersburg. Also, Washington Rd near the town of Washington. AND Have you drove the Wabash Cannonball? Yee Ha! Lots of goodies in a small area! Plus lotsa ponies!
Mike Daffron, this bridge is on my list for Spring 2019.
Thanks Jeff !
Now that they are replacing Patricksburg Road bridge, we only have a few bridges of metal left in Owen. I am sad. This fellow needs to be restored!
Yes, we got some snow today. But now we have freezing rain. Great bridge. Someone needs to fix this, Aquaduct and Jeffers. They would make an excellent trail.
I have been past this so many times and TODAY was the FIRST time I have seen these remains!! Really crappy here in Indiana at the moment, but I'm gonna trek out, and seek new sites, to boldly go... you know. Will post better pix ASAP.
Love the snow !
I have drove by this structure a hundred times, but can't get too close because it is swamp conditions at all times. Will still try when the ground hardens up>
Tony,
I kind of have a feeling you're right! The CBW list is slowly growing! I suspect it was built in the 1860's - 1870's and replaced with a Pratt (probably after the 1913 floods).
Regards,
Art S.
I reached out to the mother of an old, old friend, who grew up in Fulton Co. and remembers the bridge that was here. I sent her this photo, and her response is that not only does this bridge not at all match her memory of the bridge that was here, she has no memory of a bridge that looks like this at all. She described the old one-lane truss bridge that was here: "The bridge that we crossed was of a more square iron frame, and was only a single span instead of the double as this shows."
This bridge was damaged on Jan. 5 2019 by someone driving a box truck who just kept going. The police did catch him, but as of Monday no charges had been filed.
The article at https://www.tribstar.com/news/local_news/truck-damages-green... references bridgehunter.com.
The LAST thing on anybody in Spencer's mind is to save "rusty old steel eyesores". (Quote from an anonymous A-hole)
Another neat bridge that should have been left in place for pedestrians.
Some of the choosing of Select bridges is a little weird. Why some very nice potentially wrought iron Pin-connected trusses got left non-select, while this small rivet-connected Warren pony truss bridge (which photo 19 shows has severe widespread complete loss of top chord channel section) was found select.
This is a "Select" bridge so the county must be replacing it with their own funds, as fed money wouldn't be available.
Good stuff Jim! I added the photo courtesy of you.
Looking at the pic close-up it appears to be a Columbia Bridge Works Bowstring!
Here's what looks to be another photo of this bridge. I've been interested in this bridge for more than a decade now, trying to find images of it -- they're hard to come by.
Here are maybe the last pix I will take of this old guy. It's scheduled to begin replacement tomorrow. It is rusting bad, but Owen Co is too cheap to paint anything. Bummer.
Cool, Thanks for Making the Journey!
What an awesome little bridge! And in the middle of an unlikely area. Appleby Ford was just to the south a little. The area has gotten a lot of water lately making the slopes a little slippery. I almost luged into the old drink.
Melissa can you send that link to my email address... I would like to read the article.
Thanks Melissa... Hadn't gotten that far yet.
Tony, I did some research and found a newspaper article from 1913 saying 9 bridges were washed out in Delaware county due to flooding. The article mentioned selling the scrap of Sharon Bridge.
I had mistaken this bridge as abandoned Old 136, so I deleted the mistake.
Any documentation on the Spurto Stone Quarry? My source said Hollensbe built it (the rail spur) in 1990. It was used through 1916 and closed in 1917 according to them.
My mistake, I confused this one with the other bridge up near West 16th Street. This one is the I&V bridge next to Kentucky Avenue. This spur will most likely be ripped up as the sole remaining customer on the line closed and the building was razed.
Topo from 1948 says PRR.
Bridge is NOT former PRR, but the old IU Belt railway.
That's why I put both a NYC name and a CC&StL/Big 4 name in the alt name section.
And retaining a historic name only really works if and only if they've got a name like "Salisbury Bridge" or the like to transfer over.
An example of bridges where it doesn't really work to keep the original name is the myriad of bridges on the Milwaukee Road & Chicago & North Western systems that John has proven to be relocated.(Seriously, he's found a lot of them.)
Regardless, there should be signage denoting a given span's history, even if the name itself is not transferable.
It doesn't pay homage to an historic bridge to change it's name however.
"Big 4-Millstone Creek Bridge" would at least do that!
I feel the same about bridges that are relocated across county or state lines, if there is a historic name it should go with that bridge and be duly noted in signage at the new location.
The VG&R name was not really a good one as the bridge was built when the CCC&StL owned the line. CCC&StL also used the name Big 4 and Big 4 was used by the railroad for a long time on official documents and on it's head quarters office building. The bridge at Louisville over the Ohio is still called the Big 4 bridge. I would prefer Big 4 or NYC be apart of the name but it should reflect the stream it crosses or at least it's location in Westport.
An entry's name should reflect a bridge's current usage. There's a bridge in Los Angeles that is similar to this bridge. Said bridge was originally part of the Pacific Electric, but is now part of parking lot crossing the Grand Canal.
Which is going to be more useful to someone now looking for either bridge? Certainly not the railroad in these cases, as I'm certain most LA residents can tell you just as much about the PE red cars as the locals adjacent to this bridge can tell you the railroad the name originally used, which from what I've found on Google, was leased to the Big Four immediately after completion and likely never saw a train bearing that name.
Also just my two cents as well.
I prefer to see historic names retained and used instead of coined names like "Westport Locker Bridge".
...My two cents
Search pulls from the title/alt names section, so Big 4/Big Four in the alt names section would suffice for bridges such as this that are still in use/were used well after the route was merged into the NYC.
It was re-titled with a useless string of gibberish so James knows to delete it. :')
Very surprised to see this bridge in use as road bridge to access parking lot. It had set for decades unused and it appears that the bridge which had been access from the road needed replacement and the old railroad span was used to replace it.
Thanks Tony !
During fall and winter months, this bridge is visible down in the valley while driving Olean road.
Thanks Art !
Is there now track laid all of the way back to the bridge?
Both this and the Barrack Corner bridge were first built as Evansville and Indianapolis but became New York Central and then Penn Central. They may have become Conrail but I'm not sure when they were abandoned.
I will get better pix asap. It was getting dark and I needed to walk a bit.
Hidden away, to say the least. This appears to be the same line that runs across the Johnstown bridge.
It is still alive, just waiting on a new home, it will find one some day
This was welcome news when I heard about it on the radio last night and read about it in the newspaper this morning. Jail is a good place for this dastardly thief.
All I can say is that I am thankful for Nathan Holth's excellent photo documentation of this distinctive bridge. Link under "Sources". This incident should inspire us all to take more pictures of historic bridges, because they could be gone someday.
Nope, he's no relation to me. 8^P
Thanks for not asking!
Number 72 "cabeese" is coming up from behind.
Hallelujah!
And he's been convicted:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-...
"Kenneth Morrison, 68, of Whiting, was found guilty of interstate transportation of stolen goods. In late 2014 and early 2015, Morrison dismantled Hammond’s Monon Bridge and sold the metal in Burnham, Ill., for $18,000. He is expected to be sentenced March 21. He faces a fine and no more than 10 years imprisonment, according to federal sentencing guidelines."
I'm a hoping that maybe it was moved there.
I am certainly no expert on RR items, so Please anyone, any info. This looks to me like the same line that runs from Johnstown Bridge to, perhaps, the abandoned White River trestle East of Newberry. Of course I may be full of crapola. What say you?
Since it shows up in 2005 aerial imagery on historicaerials, I'm going to guess the latter.
Yes...these are hideous pix and if I can get permission to visit this bridge I will get better ones. And I promise to destroy these turds. Anyway, can't tell if it as actual bowstring or fabricated, like the bridge in East Park in Washington. Graber Post Building, who made the ped bridge in Washington are only a few miles away... BTW, as you can tell, my attempt at blowing up my photos are deplorable.
Here are some pics I took of the bridge before it being tore down.
Lotsa water here today. Bridge is fine.
Visited the bridge today. Looks like repair is moving along quickly. Looks like there were a few I-beam replacements.
This isn't a historic bridge. Just sayin.
corvids can migrate...……..
I made the mistake of Googling Dogface Bridge Indiana. Yikes ! Tons of videos and websites about it being Haunted.
The bridge is still there as of 14 Nov. 2018.
Mike, loved your description of the "soggy graham cracker" deck.
Btw, I did not swipe it.
Yes, the first pic is awesome, BUT the bridge is truly gorgeous!!!
I believe the house at driveway is now derelict. The deck on the bridge is terrible. Also, North-side name plate got swiped.
Guy is right. I wouldn't walk across this. The south-end side of the deck is a real hazard. North-end side is better. I went about half way and chickened out.
Lots of debris on this bridge. In bad shape.
Bridge looks about the same now as in 2006, except northside plate gone (Aholes!!). Had a blast and was creeped out by the bouncy deck.
This bridge has been rehabbed again in 2018, a modified concrete overlay deck, and the structure was painted.
An article from 2009 describing the restoration that was 'undone' by the tractor:
https://www.timessentinel.com/news/local_news/holliday-road-...
Holliday road bridge now open
By Andrea Hirsch/Times Sentinel managing editor Jul 15, 2009
Zionsville Times Sentinel
A bridge on Holliday Road that was considered unsafe, was repaired and is now open to the Zionsville community.
The bridge, which passes over Little Eagle Creek, runs through a wooded residential area between County Road 975 East and U.S. 421 on the north side of Zionsville. It has been closed since May of 2006 after the Boone County Highway Department said the bridge did not meet highway regulations.
“After we conducted our bridge inspection, the bridge reached the point where it was rated less than a 3-ton limit which means anything more than 3-tons in weight couldn’t cross it,” said Tom Kouns, highway supervisor for the Boone County Highway Department. “The bridge got so bad that it actually got below the 3-ton point which meant small cars would be the only thing that would be able to cross the bridge safely.”
The County Highway department conducts an inspection of all bridges, overpasses and county roads every two years. Once a bridge is rated under a 3-ton limit, the road is closed for repairs.
Kouns said the bridge, which has been in place for approximately 100 years, has needed to be repaired at least one other time in its existence. He said many years ago, a concrete truck went through the bridge and collapsed part of it.
Due to the very poor condition of the bridge in 2006, Kouns estimated that the repairs would cost approximately $350,000. The money was budgeted from the Cumulative Bridge Fund the county has in place. He said the bridge needed to be structurally upgraded including new planking, sand blasting and replacing rusted-out parts. In the end, the bridge cost the county $415,000; $65,000 over budget.
“It’s not uncommon to go over budget on a bridge that old,” he said. “No matter how hard you look at a 100-year old bridge, you don’t know exactly what needs to be done until you start taking it apart. The basic structure basically needed basically to be replaced.”
Bernardin Lochmueller and Associates, an engineering firm based out of Evansville, designed the bridge repairs.
“The bridge was getting to the point of being in bad shape,” Jim Gulick, the firm’s chief engineer said. “The county knew it was in bad shape and they wanted to do the necessary repairs to reserve it.”
Gulick said there was a lot of corrosion at the bottom line of the structure, meaning that the base bottom needed to be replaced.
“With time, bridges deteriorate,” he said. “They rust and loose their strength. We inspected the bridge, determined what was wrong, created a plan of action and implemented plans to repair it.”
After a plan was in action, Trisler Construction, a local contractor that has repaired other bridges in Boone County, was assigned to fix the bridge, which began in September 2007. Because the bridge was not heavily traveled upon, the county did not issue a detour. The bridge repair was completed and opened in April 2009. It can now hold 20 tons or more, Kouns said.
“I am very confident this bridge is now safe for motorists,” Kouns said.
Unfortunately, this small stone arch has been taken out and replaced by an ugly culvert.
I was just at this location in October 2018 the bridge is gone. There is a little bit of metal in the photos I posted. Don't know whether it got taken out in a flood or what.
I have a photo of the barricade that is 500 feet from the bridge. I chose to not post it due to obscenities on it.
People probably don't consider the damage water can do. This is one very good example of it. Hey Ron, thanx again!!
This bridge is now closed for rehabilitation. Traffic will be detoured using the adjacent exit ramp and a newly paved section of roadway to get traffic south of the bridge. The bridge will remain closed through the summer of next year, and local media has been alerting motorists. The rehabilitation will include a new bridge deck, barrier walls meeting current code, replacing severely deteriorated members and components, and a full cleaning and repainting.
The west approach from Marr Road in Columbus has been all cleared out over the last year or two and a second siding added back to this bridge. Looks like it's used by someone for parking railroad cars when needed.
That's definitely a streetcar track curving to a dedicated span.
The scale of the image made me think it's a bridge over Potts Ditch, but according to https://www.greenfieldin.org/residents/history-of-greenfield... the National Road bridge over Potts Ditch is a still-extant stone arch.
So I think Tony has the right bridge, and an image of the replacement bridge in https://books.google.com/books?id=Hzcf1FrK3fgC&pg=PA27&dq=gr... seems to match span lengths somewhat.
Tony, I suspect you have more information to go on than I do - but just looking at the photos I can't see that those two are the same span.
The "sidewalk" on the left in the tall photo sure looks like it is a completely separate span.
And although the view angle is compressing the distance, the rest of the image indicates it was not taken with a long focal-length lens. With that in mind both spans in the tall photo do not look like they could be as long as the span in the wide photo.
On the hill in the background are very straight lines - trolley tracks? Or just wagon tracks? With that, and the tracks on the near side of the bridge, it does not appear the bridge webs could be noticeably taller than a person. Yet the people standing on the bridge in the wide photos indicate the webs on that span are taller than the people.
Neither photo is very good quality, but even so the "lay of the land" doesn't seem to match. The position and size of the trees, the width of the abutment, the height of the roadbed above the fields to the side all suggest it's not the same place.
Then the bridge itself. The left side web in the tall photo does not look like a bowstring truss. Maybe it's just splotches on the poor quality photo - but just doesn't match up.
So - I'm not going to shout "You're wrong" because you may have lots of other data that can prove they really are the same bridge. I'm just looking at the images and what I see sure doesn't look like it can be the same bridge.
That's my opinion - which may be worth no more than the paper it written on. Erm - it's not even on paper. Uh oh.
Looks like they added a culvert pipe and raised the low water crossing sometime in the last 8 years. Maybe that is why they changed the road name.
It's an interesting virtual drive to the "real" crossing.
I was on an old Harly 125 cc with a friend of mine, In the year 1964. We were riding down 10 th street west and came Up to this bridge going to fast and did not know the road stops right after you go past this bridge. Not enough time to stop, and we crashed into the guard rail. The crash knocked me out briefly, my friend got scratched up, wore no helmet ts. We were lucky not hurt worse.
Could be a later re-encasement.
Some conflicting appearances here. The bridge is dated 1929 but the public domain photos purported to be of its construction are from 1904. Was there more than one stage to its construction?
If you continue on this road to the north west it will cross a set of tracks that makes a steep and somewhat washed out portion north side. That is doable but it will bring you back to Tanner's Creek on a true Creek crossing. I turned around. A truck or some awd vehicles with ground clearance are advised.
It is now open to vehicular traffic.
Been two years since I last visited. Still looks like it's gonna take a drink.
There is no longer any road to this bridge, gotta walk through a field. Nifty.
Just got back from a visit. Wow, no repairing this guy. Looks like it will be washed away next big flood. Thanx to Ron Enlow for the tour!!!
I have never been in the casino, but I know lots who have and I'll find out if it's still there. Doubt it though.
This bridge is a mystery bridge. Apparently there was (still is?) a bowstring pony truss located at the French Lick Casino. Anybody know anything about this one?
I'm guessing that when the sidewalks were added the substructure was changed from stone (Dry laid stone was very uncommon in Indiana) and the deck may have been upgraded. It likely had wooden stringers to begin with. The stone substructure looked pretty rough in the older photo and was likely from the earlier wooden bridge.
It's the same bridge... The walkways were added at a later date. The date given is only a circa (guestimate) date, but I did read that there was a wooden bridge (not sure if it was covered) that didn't last very long. It's definitely a tubular arch, and although the odds-makers would say it's a WIBCo product... A Rezner would not be out of the question. Come to think of it if it's a later version of the Rezner design it would have been manufactured by WIBCo. after their purchase of the Ohio Bridge Company.
Both of these photos came from out of an old book and the resolution is pretty lousy.
Oh - and the arch seen in the second photo _really_ does not look like it is the same bridge as the first photo.
There just isn't enough resolution... The original doesn't have great detail - but judging from the half-tone screening I found in the image it's all we've got. Unless someone can find the photo the newspaper used!
There are a lot of what appear to be lateral floor beams. More often than just at the verticals - which is odd. Having them rest on the lower chord would be a bad idea. Maybe they are just there to tie the deck together?
Regarding the top chord. I think it is round - or nearly round. The shadow line is so consistent at about half-way up that it can't be a flat sided beam. Maybe it's sort of a Phoenix type built up something.
I can see diagonals between verticals in a truss pattern. The top of some of the verticals look "forked", like maybe they are attached to both sides of the top chord.
I sure wish I could see more details!
The shadow line on the arch of the first picture makes it look like a Rezner but, I think 1880 is too late.
Thoughts?
Art S.
Great pix!! Makes me wanna go see it!
Brendan,the video won't play.Where can I see the video?
The stone pier under the truss span appears to be part of the earlier span and from it's shape and placement I would say it was for a swing span which was done away with. I hate to say it but those trees growing from the unused pier need to go as they will destroy it.
Just to the west of this bridge was an interesting timber bridge over the old railroad bed. Unfortunately it has been removed and replaced by dirt fill.
Yes, this bridge looks damn good! Name plates are back and it is quite the place to visit!
Got my first walk across the restored railroad bridge. An amazing job was done to restore the bridge. Man, those plate girder beams are massive. You can't see the river until you walk across the the through truss. A couple piers still have trees growing out of them. The deck is plates of concrete, and don't be alarmed by some of them vibrating. I wonder why this bridge doesn't have ice breaker piers.