CSX - Levisa Branch Bridge
Photos
JohnsCreek
A glorious winter shot.
David Price, February, 2010
View this photo at railpictures.net
BH Photo #212883
Description
Another relic from the past, this massive bridge sits at the beginning of the now defunct Levisa Branch, which served mines in the Biggs area. This line was taken out by the building and flooding of the line by Fishtrap Reservoir, built in the '60's. It also served the infamous "Coon Creek Branch", which was an ill conceived connector to serve mines on Johns Creek. It was a tortuous route with a 2%+ grade that is still in use by a local coal company as a haul road. Incidentally, this bridge at one time was over the Ohio River, hence its size, but was relocated to Millard due to weight constraints.Facts
- Overview
- Parker Camelback through truss bridge over Big Sandy River (Levisa Fork) at junction with Russell Fork on former CSX Levisa Branch
- Location
- Millard, Pike County, Kentucky
- Status
- Closed to all traffic
- History
- Built 1894 by the Pencoyd Bridge & Construction Co. over Ohio River, moved ca. 1960
- Builder
- - Pencoyd Bridge & Construction Co. of Pencoyd, Pennsylvania
- Railroad
- - CSX Railroad (CSX)
- Design
- Parker through truss
Pratt through truss - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +37.40710, -82.44091 (decimal degrees)
37°24'26" N, 82°26'27" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/372476/4141009 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Millard
- Inventory number
- BH 49530 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- November 4, 2016: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added category "Pin-connected"
- April 10, 2012: Updated by Clark Vance: History clarification
- April 10, 2012: New photos from Calvin Sneed
- September 7, 2011: Added by Daniel Hopkins
- June 23, 2010: New Street View added by Cliff Darby
- June 23, 2010: Added by C Hanchey
Sources
- C Hanchey - cmh2315fl [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Cliff Darby - clif30 [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Daniel Hopkins - chimera [at] clovermail [dot] net
- Calvin Sneed - us43137415 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Clark Vance - cvance [at] dogmail [dot] com
Comments
Comparing David Price's picture from 2010 (number 1) to Calvin's in 2012 (number 80) a lot has changed in the two years it seems like the bridge is being prepared for use especially since the walkway was added and it looks like some maintenance was started.
So the logical question: Where was it originally? Anything on the web about the move?
That's correct.. 1894 was the original build year for the structure itself on the Ohio, and it was relocated in 1960 by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, which is now part of CSX.
Picture 20 shows a 1890 build date. Should we assume the 1960 date is the date it was moved to this location?
I could not resist the urge to go and see this majestic giant in person. The end railing supports from Daniel's elegant winter setting picture have been removed, and the bridge seems to have morphed into a rustic relic that fits perfectly into its surroundings, yet has seen better days. It also now supports a walking grate. Easy to believe that it once spanned the Ohio River; I was shocked at the tremendous girth and the huge support pillars. It seems to be much stronger than the bridges that support coal cars around it in the area.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ky/pike/levisa-branch/
i have photos from 1945 from my grandma who lived next to it if you d like some more pics, she took a few different angles with hand drawn maps on back..