Rating:
4 votes

NS - Ohio River Bridge

Hamilton County, Ohio, and Kenton County, Kentucky

Photos 

Photo taken by Bill Eichelberger in August 2009

Enlarge

BH Photo #145690

Map 

Street View 

    Video 

    Flight Over the Cincinnati Southern Railroad Bridge (AKA Ludlow Bridge). Some wind gusts.

    Geoff McKim

    Play video on YouTube

    Facts 

    Overview
    Through truss bridge over Ohio River on Norfolk Southern Railroad in Cincinnati
    Location
    Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, and Kenton County, Kentucky
    Status
    Open to traffic
    History
    Built 1922 using the existing piers from a 1877 bridge
    Builders
    - American Bridge Co. of New York (Superstructure)
    - Foundation Co. of New York (Substructure Enlargement)
    - Ralph Modjeski of Bochnia, Poland
    Railroads
    - Cincinnati, New Orleans, & Texas Pacific Railway (CNO&TP; CNTP)
    - Norfolk Southern Railway (NS)
    Design
    Continuous Baltimore through truss
    Vertical lift through truss span (lifting machinery removed)
    Warren deck truss span
    Lengthy deck girder approach on the north side
    Dimensions
    Length of largest span: 520.0 ft.
    Total length: 3,230.0 ft. (0.6 mi.)
    Also called
    CNTP - Ohio River Bridge
    Approximate latitude, longitude
    +39.09833, -84.54194   (decimal degrees)
    39°05'54" N, 84°32'31" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
    Approximate UTM coordinates
    16/712565/4330565 (zone/easting/northing)
    Quadrangle map:
    Covington
    Inventory number
    BH 43291 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

    Categories 

    American Bridge Co. (1,269)
    Baltimore through truss (285)
    Baltimore truss (314)
    Built 1922 (644)
    Built during 1920s (9,144)
    Cincinnati, New Orleans, & Texas Pacific Railway (21)
    Cincinnati, Ohio (42)
    Continuous (2,098)
    Continuous truss (163)
    Deck girder (4,805)
    Deck truss (1,544)
    Foundation Co. (11)
    Girder (8,619)
    Hamilton County, Ohio (93)
    Have street view (24,039)
    Kenton County, Kentucky (36)
    Kentucky (1,170)
    Movable (2,756)
    		 Norfolk Southern Railway (1,492)
    Ohio (2,977)
    Ohio River (103)
    Open (37,445)
    Owned by city (4,713)
    Pin-connected (3,552)
    Plate girder (6,603)
    Railroad (13,848)
    Ralph Modjeski (47)
    Riveted (1,971)
    Span length 500-1000 feet (370)
    State line crossing (755)
    Through truss (13,224)
    Total length over 2500 feet (790)
    Truss (29,962)
    Vertical lift (393)
    Warren deck truss (563)
    Warren truss (5,959)

    Update Log 

    • November 11, 2017: New video from Geoff McKim
    • April 10, 2017: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added categories "Pin-connected", "Riveted"
    • March 26, 2016: New photos from Geoff McKim
    • December 10, 2015: New Street View added by Douglas Butler
    • October 15, 2013: New photo from Douglas Butler
    • April 11, 2013: Updated by Alexander D. Mitchell IV: Added category "Norfolk Southern Railway"
    • January 23, 2013: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added vertical lift info, engineer, contractor, etc.
    • October 7, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway", "Railroad"
    • October 7, 2012: Updated by Jann Mayer: Added approach details and span length
    • November 2, 2010: New photo from Bill Eichelberger
    • August 26, 2009: Updated by Bill Eichelberger: Added GPS coordinates.

    Sources 

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    Comments 

    Cincinnati Southern Railroad Bridge
    Posted April 3, 2010, by James Baughn (webmaster [at] bridgehunter [dot] com)

    I've added a separate entry for the original 1877 bridge:

    http://bridgehunter.com/oh/hamilton/bh44720/

    Cincinnati Southern Railroad Bridge
    Posted April 3, 2010, by Ed Hollowell (erhollowell [at] aol [dot] com)

    I think I see where the $20,000,000 figure came from. $20M in bonds were sold for the construction of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, but that was for the construction of the 350 mile rail line.

    From bridgesandtunnels.com "Construction was completed by the Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburg for $750,000 and was regarded as one of the cheapest spans of bridge-building in the West. It was the longest truss span in the world. The span was the seventh bridge built over the Ohio, and the third at that point."

    Cincinnati Southern Railroad Bridge
    Posted April 3, 2010, by Ed Hollowell (erhollowell [at] aol [dot] com)

    I would like to see the figures on how they arrived at $20,000,000 cost. That sounds way too high for 1922 and imposable for the earlier date. I would guess the 1922 price at about 1/4 that.

    Cincinnati Southern Railroad Bridge
    Posted March 23, 2010, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

    I believe this bridge was actually built in 1922. The substructure may date to 1877, but the superstructure is far newer than that. Wikipedia claims the bridge was "extensively modified" in 1922 which I believe means replaced. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Southern_Bridge