Broadway Bridge
Photos
Overview
The Broadway Street Bridge, also known as the Blue Bridge, is interesting because the road and railroad bridges are coupled together. Currently, the bridge is open to railroad and pedestrian traffic but is closed to automobile traffic.
Photo taken by James McCray
BH Photo #111339
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Kentucky River on KY 3506 in Frankfort
- Location
- Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
- Status
- Fenced off with No Trespassing Signs
- History
- Built 1898; Converted to road only in 1929
- Railroad
- - Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N; LN)
- Design
- Pin-connected Baltimore Petit through truss bridge
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 169.0 ft.
Total length: 515.9 ft.
Deck width: 22.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 20.4 ft.
- Also called
- Blue Bridge, Broad Way Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +38.20194, -84.88194 (decimal degrees)
38°12'07" N, 84°52'55" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/685458/4230342 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Frankfort West
- Inventory numbers
- KY 037-B00066N (Kentucky bridge number)
BH 18781 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- February 25, 2020: Updated by Julie Bowers: more information thru local research
- February 13, 2020: Updated by Luke: Corrected build date per lead from Julie; Noted Rail-to-road
- February 17, 2019: New photos from Carl Crasher
- September 20, 2016: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
- September 20, 2016: New photos from Jack Schmidt
- October 30, 2011: Updated by J.P.: changed bridges status
- June 16, 2010: Updated by C Hanchey: Bridge is known as the Broadway Bridge, was constructed in 1910 and is a pin-connected Baltimore Petit truss
- April 9, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
- March 4, 2008: Updated by James McCray
- February 5, 2008: New photos from James McCray
Related Bridges
- L&N - Frankfort Fink Truss (Predecessor)
- RJCC - Kentucky River Bridge (Successor)
Sources
- James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Nathan Holth
- C Hanchey - cmh2315fl [at] yahoo [dot] com
- J.P. - wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
- Jack Schmidt - jjturtle [at] earthlink [dot] net
- Dana and Kay Klein
- Luke
- Julie Bowers - jbowerz1 [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
Just trying to clean up this particular page. Removing the railroad bridge photos to it's own post would be great. Then create a page for the Fink. I didn't add anything else because we are waiting for more research documents. The study to used to get bids to remove the bridge cites a 1910 date which isn't nearly representative of this crossings particular history as the first area settled at the three rivers.
Tho the captions are incorrect in calling the 1898 bridge the 1868 bridge, https://books.google.com/books?id=uMxaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA134&dq=F... gives the history of the 1868 Fink and bridges prior
The detailed map from 1871 clearly shows the Fink truss at this location. That truss was for both rail and road transportation.
A couple of points of correction: This is actually TWO bridges. The highway bridge carrying Broadway (and this modern affectation of calling it Broadway STREET annoys me to no end) was built in 1898 as the railroad bridge. It also had a wooden deck to allow wagons and pedestrians to use it. It replaced the first iron railroad bridge in 1898 - a Fink truss built in 1868. The Fink truss replaced the second railroad covered bridge at this location lost in a flood in 1867. The second covered bridge replaced the first covered bridge which was burned by the Confederates in 1863 during the occupation of Frankfort. The covered bridge replaced the first railroad bridge at the location which was a wire suspension bridge. David Morse of Frankfort can give even more detail on the history of the railroad and crossings.
The present railroad bridge was built in 1929.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ky/franklin/37B00066N/
The history continues to unfold thanks to Franklin County Trust and museum and wonderful bridgehunters...back to 1893....
Widened by 1898 because it was supposed to be an inkind replacement....for people too. Raised in 1898 to match singing bridge. The Fink truss had stone end posts.