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Vandalia Bridge
Photos
Just after the collapse
Photo taken on February 23, 1900
Enlarge
BH Photo #188270
Description
At 2:35 p.m on February 23, 1900, the west span of the bridge collapsed due to the structure crumbling under the combined pressure of ice, the weight of Big Four Locomotive 96, and forty-nine freight cars. The train was en route to Terre Haute from Mattoon, Illinois, loaded with baled cotton, lumber, grain, paper, stove ovens, and general merchandise. Employees of the local waterworks company reported to the Terre Haute Gazette that the bridge was swaying moments before the accident. Fireman Dan Ruddell of Indianapolis died in the wreck. The missing spans were replaced with two 184 ft. Pratt through truss spans, and the entire bridge was later replaced with a plate girder bridge.
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Wabash River on former Big Four Railroad in Terre Haute
- Location
- Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana
- Status
- Replaced by new bridge
- Railroad
- - Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (CCC&StL; Big 4)
- Design
- Pin-connected Pratt through truss
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.47272, -87.42000 (decimal degrees)
39°28'22" N, 87°25'12" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
- Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/463874/4369320 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Terre Haute
- Inventory number
- BH 47088 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- January 3, 2019: New photo from Melissa Brand-Welch
- November 23, 2010: Added by Jacob P. Bernard