Calvin Sneed

Nice detail in the pics!

Great photos, Alex! Older pics are hard to come by, and these are fantastic.

Please tell me where the blurred pictures are, and I will gladly remove them.

Your comments would have been much more appreciated, had you sent them to me privately, instead of in a public conversation. My email is posted.

But I realize that today's generation would rather criticize publically.

BTW.. where might we sample some of your photos?

I'll address some of the comments about "too many photos."

I am not a "shutterbug." I am a photographer by nature.. each picture I take, tells a story focusing on a subject, whether by angle, by lighting, by positioning, or by George.. there is a reason that picture needs to be taken. The bigger the bridge, the more opportunity to show the sheer majestry of the structure.

I guess I'm not like most bridge photographers. I get up close and personal with each structure, to document the way it was built and the method by which it was built, right down to each rivet, each beam, each truss, everything perfectly measured and formed. I become one with the framework. They don't make bridges the way the bridges spotlighted on Bridgehunter.com are made, and that method is something to be preserved.

I also take lots of pictures because with the frequency of demolition, many of these old splendid giants are living on borrowed time. The more pictures logged, the more of a record of how elegantly it was made.

Oh yeah... I guess I could take 3 or 4 pictures of a bridge and be content with every bridge looking exactly like the next one downriver, but I think bridgehunter.com is more than just a superficial glance at bridges. I feel like it is a collection of what makes a classic bridge special, what endears it to the history of the area where it's located, and what makes it part of the fabric of the era that it was built.

I have been a member of bridgehunter.com for years, and the website has never had a limit to the number of pictures that anyone can post. Although I cannot speak for him, I have indeed spoken with Mr. Baughn several times, and I don't believe he intended to place a limit on the number of pictures. I found him to be an avid bridgehunter, often in awe of these magnificent structures, and very appreciative of the contributions that are made that capture the elegance and engineering of them.

BTW, several sets of bridge pictures that I have taken have been selected by the National Park Service, several bridge building companies, city governments and universities, for educational purposes. Also, several sets I have taken of bridges in use have highlighted problems within a particular bridge's makeup, and bridge owners have thanked me for pointing out repairs that need to be made, to preserve the bridges.

Thanks for your support, fellow bridgehunters.. On to the next one!

Updated; new photos..

How are preservation efforts going?

This bridge has generated quite a bit of conversation, so I decided to visit.

It certainly looks like a cable-stayed bridge, but in fact, it is not a cable-stayed bridge. It is on private property, and after talking with the owner, he explained the bridge. He's in steel fabrication, and calls it a "beam-style" bridge, built by his father-in-law, 47 years ago.

He says he attached the cables on the side himself, and although they look like cable stays, they are there to keep his wife from accidently driving off the bridge, 30 feet below into Lookout Creek. Closer examination that I made indicates they do not support the weight of the bridge mid-section at all. If you look closely at Pictures 9, 17, 22 and 55 of the pics I took, you can see how the beams actually absorb all of the weight.. in fact, they have developed a sag in the middle. The owner is aware of that, and is working to fix it. After 47 years, they don't show any signs of undue stress.

He says the county condemned it several years ago, but lifted the condemnation after ending the county's maintenance right about where the entrance pics are. Frankly, I don't think the county wanted the responsibility.

Located this bridge in the records of the old Tennessee Highway Department, updated information, statistics and daylight pictures. A jewel of a find.. thanks Eddie and Daniel!

The info I found from the old Cincinnati Southern records, shows this is the original bridge from 1879.. the bridge supports were strengthened to handle larger coal cars around the turn of the century.

It's possible the pillars were rebuilt and stamped with the later date.

Is the old bridge still there?

I agree.. this was a dumb demolition.. tearing this bridge down and not even leaving it as an historic ruin is a bonehead decision somewhere in this county. Tearing this one down made no sense whatsoever..it's not as if it handled a ton of traffic. I'm glad I got to spend some quality time there.

I now have an app that monitors this website, that notifies me whenever the term "CSX Railroad" is changed. It changes it back because it is the correct term, then emails me to let me know it is changed back. Saves me a lot of time. Thank goodness for technology!

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.

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.

Thanks for fixing that, Michael!

Jerry, you're right. I have located a picture of the plaque, but I don't know where the original was placed. It is, indeed, the Veterans Memorial Bridge. Thanks for the info!