Rating:
11 votes

CSX - Avon Bridge

Hendricks County, Indiana

Photos 

Construction

The original bridge can be seen in the lower right. The abutments still remain, and can be seen in photos 11 and 15.

Enlarge

BH Photo #178983

Map 

Street View 

Description 

This bridge is most known because it is thought to be haunted. Many explanations have been reported over the years, but of course, no one really knows which one is true or if it is true.

One of the most reported stories is that an Irish construction worker slipped and fell in a vat of wet cement inside the framework of one of the piers and drowned. Since he was already dead, the railroad company didn't want to waste money to retrieve the body, they left it in the pier and the workers carried on with construction. People now say that at night, you can hear his hammer pounding from when he was trying to get out of the concrete.

Facts 

Overview
Concrete arch bridge over White Lick Creek, CR 625 E. and Washington Township Park roadway on CSX Transportation in Avon
Location
Avon, Hendricks County, Indiana
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1907 for the Big Four Railroad, rehabilitated in 1998
Builder
- Thomas McNally Construction Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Railroads
- CSX Railroad (CSX)
- Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (CCC&StL; Big Four)
- Conrail (CR)
- New York Central Railroad (NYC)
- Penn Central Railroad (PC)
Design
Open-spandrel concrete arch
Dimensions
Total length: 290.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+39.75779, -86.41397   (decimal degrees)
39°45'28" N, 86°24'50" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/550199/4401038 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Brownsburg
Inventory number
BH 44325 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Arch (12,094)
Avon, Indiana (6)
Built 1907 (698)
Built during 1900s (7,223)
CSX Railroad (1,662)
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (159)
Conrail (1,554)
Deck arch (11,332)
Have street view (26,929)
Hendricks County, Indiana (94)
 Indiana (4,917)
New York Central Railroad (874)
Open (39,880)
Open-spandrel arch (759)
Owned by railroad (12,415)
Penn Central Railroad (1,347)
Railroad (15,408)
Thomas McNally Construction Co. (1)
Total length 250-500 feet (5,223)

Update Log 

  • January 18, 2019: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added builder.
  • November 17, 2018: New photos from Mike Daffron
  • March 10, 2011: New photos from Brent Tindall
  • November 25, 2010: New Street View added by Jacob P. Bernard
  • October 10, 2010: New Street View added by Jacob P. Bernard
  • October 8, 2010: Updated by Brent Tindall: Edited Overview.
  • April 10, 2010: New Street View added by Jacob P. Bernard
  • March 5, 2010: Added by Jacob P. Bernard

Sources 

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Comments 

White Lick Creek Railroad Bridge
Posted October 9, 2010, by Ed Hollowell (erhollowell [at] aol [dot] com)

Is there a large concrete structure anywhere that does not have a dead workman inside it?