Rating:
2 votes

CSX - Holston River Bridge

Sullivan County, Tennessee

Photos 

South Holston River Railroad Bridge

View from north of bridge, downriver. Holston Tunnel, shortest on the railroad is directly to the right at end of bridge.

Photo taken by Calvin Sneed in May 2008

Enlarge

BH Photo #116462

Map 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Four-span Pratt deck truss railroad bridge over the Holston River, South Fork
Location
Kingsport, Sullivan County, Tennessee
Status
Open to rail traffic
History
Built in 1907 as part of first segment of the South & Western RR, later the Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio, later the Clinchfield Railroad
Railroads
- CSX Railroad (CSX)
- Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio Railroad (CCO)
- Family Lines System (FL)
- Seaboard System Railroad (SBD)
- South & Western Railway (S&W)
Design
Four-span, riveted, Pratt deck truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 120.0 ft.
Total length: 611.0 ft.
Deck width: 22.0 ft.
Also called
SBD - Holston River Bridge
FL - Holston River Bridge
Clinchfield - Holston River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+36.51566, -82.52809   (decimal degrees)
36°30'56" N, 82°31'41" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
17/363174/4042231 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Kingsport
Elevation
1240 ft. above sea level
Inventory numbers
TN 82039020005 (Tennessee bridge number)
BH 32711 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Average daily traffic (as of 2007)
5,270

Categories 

Built 1907 (592)
Built during 1900s (6,283)
CSX Railroad (1,249)
Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio Railroad (43)
Deck truss (1,510)
Family Lines System (74)
Holston River (35)
Kingsport, Tennessee (10)
Open (36,582)
Owned by railroad (9,824)
Pratt deck truss (304)
 Pratt truss (8,008)
Railroad (13,091)
Riveted (1,875)
Seaboard System Railroad (95)
South & Western Railway (18)
Span length 100-125 feet (4,034)
Sullivan County, Tennessee (19)
Tennessee (1,030)
Total length 500-1000 feet (2,540)
Truss (29,442)

Update Log 

  • November 4, 2012: Updated by J.P.: corrected Location
  • December 20, 2011: New photos from Calvin Sneed
  • August 27, 2010: New photos from Calvin Sneed
  • January 2, 2010: Updated by Calvin Sneed: http://www.csx.com/
  • December 31, 2009: Updated by Calvin Sneed: According to CSX spokesperson, CSX Transportation is made up of rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services. The railroad is CSX Railroad.
  • August 24, 2008: Updated by Calvin Sneed
  • July 29, 2008: Updated by Calvin Sneed
  • July 8, 2008: Updated by Calvin Sneed
  • July 4, 2008: Updated by Calvin Sneed

Sources 

  • Calvin Sneed - us43137415 [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • J.P. - wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com
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Comments 

South Fork Holston River CSX Railroad Bridge
Posted November 16, 2009, by Calvin Sneed (us43137415 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

It was, indeed, well-built by the South and Western Railway, the predecessor to the Clinchfield. All the bridges on this line were originally built to carry heavy coal-laden coal cars, and were later strengthened to carry longer, heavier cars. When the demand for coal cut back in the 1950's and 60's, the heavier bridges were still in place and as a result, are now easier to upkeep (source: "Building the Clinchfield" by James Goforth)

South Fork Holston River CSX Railroad Bridge
Posted May 6, 2009, by J.R. Manning (thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net)

The railroads understand something too many public authorities don't: M A I N T E N A N C E.

Meanwhile, if you continue to cruise this site, you will find dozens of bridges that are far more than 100 years old that are still in service. (Like the Kate Shelly High Bridge in Boone County, Iowa. It has been carrying the Chicago & Northwestern and Union Pacific mainline across the Des Moines River since 1899. The photo is from HAER and is on the Kate Shelly page of this site.)

South Fork Holston River CSX Railroad Bridge
Posted May 5, 2009, by Anonymous

100 years old and still in service? Must be well built.