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First Hannibal Bridge

Jackson County, Missouri, and Clay County, Missouri

Photos 

View from Clay County 1876

Photo taken by Mark Frazier in November 2007

Enlarge

BH Photo #133537

Map 

Description 

Was located 200 feet downstream of the second (replacement) bridge.

Timeline 

Researched 04/24/2008

1867
Octave Chanute designs bridge for growing Kansas City area

1868
Construction begins on a a five span swinging bridge though truss bridge

1869
Bridge opens, becomes first bridge on the Missouri River at Kansas City

1887
Tornado strikes bridge, center span collapses

1888
Bridge spans replaced, reopened

1916
Bridge needing replacment, closed to all traffic

1917
Second Hannibal Bridge built, First Hannibal Bridge torn down

Facts 

Overview
Lost through truss bridge over Missouri River on Railroad in Kansas City
Location
Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, and Clay County, Missouri
Status
No longer exists
History
Built 1869 under the direction of Octave Chanute; damaged by tornado in 1887, replaced 1917 by the Second Hannibal Bridge
Builders
- George S. Morison of New Bedford, Massachusetts (Assistant Engineer)
- Keystone Bridge Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Superstructure Contractor)
- Octave Chanute of Paris, France (Chief Engineer)
- Vipond & Walker of Kansas City, Missouri (Masonry Contractor)
Railroad
- Hannibal & St. Joseph Railway
Design
Swinging through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 363.0 ft.
Total length: 1,400.0 ft.
Also called
Burlington Bridge
Hannibal Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+39.11310, -94.58772   (decimal degrees)
39°06'47" N, 94°35'16" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/362732/4330527 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Kansas City
Inventory number
BH 36474 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (6,178)
Built 1869 (59)
Built during 1860s (387)
Clay County, Missouri (98)
George S. Morison (29)
Hannibal & St. Joseph Railway (1)
Jackson County, Missouri (237)
Kansas City, Missouri (146)
Keystone Bridge Co. (52)
Lost (18,689)
Lost 1917 (32)
Lost during 1910s (334)
 Missouri (5,936)
Missouri River (116)
Movable (2,705)
Octave Chanute (6)
Railroad (13,091)
Span length 250-500 feet (1,091)
Swing (1,248)
Through truss (12,893)
Total length 1000-2500 feet (1,671)
Truss (29,444)
Vipond & Walker (1)

Update Log 

  • September 20, 2016: New photos from Dave King
  • January 22, 2016: New photos from Gene Smania
  • January 19, 2016: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added builders, engineers, dimensions.
  • November 14, 2011: Updated by Clark Vance: Placed on map
  • November 13, 2010: New photo from Paul Hamby
  • August 4, 2010: New photo from Eric Kinkhorst
  • January 6, 2010: New photos from Eric Kinkhorst
  • January 5, 2010: New photos from Eric Kinkhorst
  • October 22, 2009: New photos from David Smothers
  • February 15, 2009: New photo from Mark Frazier
  • April 27, 2008: Updated by Max Johnson
  • April 24, 2008: Essay added by Max Johnson
  • April 23, 2008: Added by Max Johnson

Related Bridges 

Sources 

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Comments 

First Hannibal Bridge
Posted January 19, 2016, by Nathan Holth (webmaster [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

A detailed book about construction of this bridge is here: https://books.google.com/books?id=InEOAAAAYAAJ&printsec=fron... and from that I noted that famous engineer George Morison acted as assistant engineer on this bridge, and famous bridge builder Keystone Bridge Co. erected the superstructure.

First Hannibal Bridge
Posted January 6, 2010, by Eric Kinkhorst (e [dot] kinkhorst [at] centurytel [dot] net)

Here is some good reading

http://www.kchistory.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/Buil...

First Hannibal Bridge
Posted May 22, 2009, by Gene McCluney (mccluney [at] sbcglobal [dot] net)

I am assuming this was a wooden thru truss?