Rail Swing Bridge, New London WI

Photos 

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2 New London 01.JPG A round center pier is a dead giveaway for a Swing bridge. Photo taken by Robert Thompson in October 2009 Enlarge

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2 New London 02.JPG But on this one, the turntable and ring gear are gone, replaced by timber cribbing! I presume the castings fractured, as castings are prone to do. And railroads always have lots of treated timber on hand, so that was the material to use for the repairs. Photo taken by Robert Thompson in October 2009 Enlarge

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2 New London 03.JPG The current state of navigation on the Lower Wolf River. During the days of the lumberjack, this river was filled with log rafts towed by Growser Tugs to feed the sawmills and paper mills of the Fox River Valley. Today, it is fisherman's heaven. Photo taken by Robert Thompson in October 2009 Enlarge

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2 New London 04.JPG As with the Shiocton Swing Bridge, there is a swing span and a fixed span. On this bridge, the spans are of similar design. Photo taken by Robert Thompson in October 2009 Enlarge

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2 New London 05.JPG Tight clearance between the fixed span (top) and swing span (bottom). Photo taken by Robert Thompson in October 2009 Enlarge

Map 

Historic Significance: 

Why is there a swing bridge in this remote location?

The Wolf River was part of the lumber route from northern Wisconsin to the sawmills and paper mills of the Fox River Valley. The Lower Wolf River is a meandering river without steep gradient; here, log rafts were pulled by tugboat to the mills, about 48 miles downstream by water. This swing bridge allowed the tugs to navigate past the rail crossing.

Facts 

Overview

Deck plate girder bridge over Wolf River on Canadian National Railway (formerly Chicago & Northwestern Railway) in New London

Location

New London, Outagamie County, Wisconsin

Status

Swing Bridge on the Wolf River; rendered `fixed' after this portion of the Wolf River was made non-navigable by the construction of a fixed bridge downstream.

History

Swing mechanism removed and replaced by timber cribbing.

Design

One fixed span, one (formerly) swing span.

Approximate latitude, longitude

+44.39376, -88.73163   (decimal degrees)
44°23'38" N, 88°43'54" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

16/362088/4917066 (zone/easting/northing)

Land survey

T. 22 N., R. 14 E.

USGS topographic map

New London

Inventory number

BH 43565 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Update Log 

• November 22, 2009: Updated by J.R. Manning: Corrected Railroad Data
• October 31, 2009: Essay added by Robert Thompson

Sources 

• J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
• Robert Thompson

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