Recent West Virginia Comments

Thought the bridge deserved a few pics

I do not have any photo's handy but can add them later.

That St. Marys bridge is in used today an is not 'completely' a lost structure.

Most of it has been taken down but part of is use to take car and foot traffic to the near by island called Middle Island.

The bridge over the Mississippi River in Muscatine also has a light display.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nObPOkD7T4U

Don,

I had the pleasure of watching the Peace bridge this past Christmas. Its quite an impressive display when they put the lights in motion, worth the visit. An unusual but beautiful small-scale example of this sort of lighting can be found on the Saegertown Bridge:

http://www.historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=pennsylvania/saegertown/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zlett/8210354631/

Nathan,

Glad you found the link useful. One great thing about lighting a bridge is that you get twice the effect because bridges are usually over a large reflective surface.

I'd like to go see the Peace Bridge lit up.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/58912448

Johnstown Pa has the Stone Bridge lit up with changing lights. See a video of it on you tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22f4KjIqV1E&list=PL3EE6642AD67B297D

Here's a video from some folks who want to light the Mackinack Bridge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFl99trcMaY

Do a Google Image Search for "bridge lighting" for some amazing pictures.

Don

The day this bridge hit the Ohio River a massive amount of history and historic bridge value died with it.

Don,

Thanks for posting the link to the ad. This will be a useful document to share when discussing preservation possibilities with people.

I don't know about Silver memorial Bridge, but it's becoming fashionable to light bridges. Here's an advertising publication from Philips Color Kinetics:

http://www.colorkinetics.com/ls/guides-brochures/PCK-LED-for-Bridges.pdf

I was returning from Florida on the night of March 9 via Airtran bound for Pittsburgh International when I saw a bridge that must have crossed the Ohio River about 15 minutes before landing. It was after 11 PM and the bridge was lit up with a very striking blue and purple. I don't think I have flown over that area for many years and probably never at night. I did a Flight Aware tracking of our approach and it looks from the timing and angle of the look that I had, that I could have been seeing the Silver Memorial Bridge out my window on the left side of the aircraft. Does anybody know if that might be the bridge that I saw, is it lit at night?

I drove over this bridge last night around 3 am.. returning to Columbus Ohio from making a delivery. It made me wonder about who Donald Legg was. My mother had relatives in the past who named Legg and they lived in southern Ohio. I think most of the "Legg's" that I met may have died. I can recall a Delbert Legg who worked with the railroad,he was from Idaho, Ohio... He probably was aware of this bridge in the 1970's when I was a kid and didn't or couldn't travel... My grandparents would put him up for the night, and of course I had to go home when he was in town working with the railroad... they used to reunion at Pike Lake in the 1970's..Nice Truss Bridge...got home okay!

This bridge was constructed by the Virginian Railway.

This bridge has been closed to traffic due to a cable snapping at the top of one of the towers. See link:

http://theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/582091/Cable-Snaps-On-Suspension-Bridge.html?nav=515

I'll be honest with you, I hated going across this bridge. It's very narrow and makes for a stressful crossing, especially during rush hour. But, although I hated crossing it, I hate to see it replaced with something that has little to no personality and no historical significance. I wish they could have done the same thing to this one that they did to the Winfield Toll Bridge - even though they are different types of bridges.

Demolition photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wvdot/sets/72157632483584825

I believe it should be N&W, but am open for corrections.

Was this bridge built by the N&W RR or the Virginian RR? Also, do you how old it is?

Thank you,

John Clark

Railroad tracks run right next to the tower and coal hoppers were loaded here for years. Not sure when operations ceased.I used to live in Wheeling and went past here all the time in the 70's and early 80's.

My ancestor John Wallace and his son Charles Wallace likely worked on this bridge. Charles was Masonry Inspector / Superintendant on National road from Wheeling to West Ohio.

We have family records of Charles and he must have learned the trade from his Father to be that high ranking.

I'm pretty sure the Parker's are skewed about 45 degrees. That can result in some odd looking portal braces.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepycreek/6471470613/

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=130997

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=70625

J.P.,

Looks like we have a Pennsylvania truss here--same complexity as a Baltimore, but with curved upper chord. Parkers are the same configuration as basic Pratts, but with curved upper chord. Camelbacks are Parkers with upper chords that have only 3 sides (not including end posts).

Not sure if I got the main span design right on this bridge. I believe its a parker. But I have always had trouble with Baltimore, parkers, and camelbacks.

This bridge has been demolished. Its replacement is a girder structure but they did try to emulate some of the railing of the old bridge.

If you get a chance take a look at this bridge in Street view and bing maps. The towers for this cantilevered are just awesome.

Wrong bridge photographed. This is a Pratt through truss on WV 250/2 at Durbin, a much lighter span. Query Back River bridge or some variant for similar vantage points.

From the 1925 Clarksburg and Weston quads:

Monongahela Valley Electric ran parallel to the B&O tracks until they split at the bridge with the electric crossing the bridge and the B&O going along the east side of the creek.

They still look pretty beefy for an interurban and the fact that they don't "match" suggests reuse. The mining in the area a century ago led to a lot of trackage that's no longer present. It's likely that as lines to played out mines were taken up their bridges were moved.

See: http://www.american-rails.com/west-virginia-interurbans.html

Looks to me like one span of a traditional road bridge was paired with a repurposed railroad span.

It's definitely narrow enough to be an older railroad bridge.

I am pretty sure this is originally a railroad bridge. Not only does it look like a railroad bridge, I can see remnants of the RR line on aerial imagry where the highway breaks away from the old RR alignment.

Here is the link to the demolition of the bridge: http://www.wdtv.com/wdtv.cfm?func=view§ion=5-News&item=Part-Of-Ices-Ferry-Bridge-Comes-Down5556

This bride was recently demolished this week. I am looking for some video footage of it. Would you know of any?

Is this the bridge over the Kanawha that used to have a toll on it?

Since it won't let me put it as the York, Pennsylvania Luten Bridge Company, I put York, Pennsylvania in parentheses.

This bridge is a luten bridge 1924.number 113

Yes, this would have been the same Wendel Bollman, associated with B&O Railroad and the inventor of the Bollman truss configuration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendel_Bollman

I will leave it to others to reveal who the other names are.

Just wondering....this Wendel Bollman fellow...on the old Kingwood Tunnel in Tunnelton West Virginia, the one that was abandoned in 1950 or so, there are three stones that sit on top of the old tunnel. They have names and titles carved in each of them. The middle stone of the three has Wendel Bollman carved in in, and below his name is "Master of Road", I believe. Is this the same Wendel Bollman that was involved with the Board Tree Tunnel?

I'd also like to know who John L Wilson was, the "Assistant Master of Road", and Robert Murray, who I think was in charge of arching. I cannot tell what the stone says from my picture but to me it looks like an abbreviation for supervisor so I think the stone says "Supv of Arching." If anyone knows anything, I'd love to hear what you have to share! Thanks :-)

BRIDGEHUNTER, i"m 44 years old and i grew up in the house beside of the BARRACKVILLE COVERED BRIDGE. It was and is the most beautiful bridge I've ever seen. I have beautiful pictures of it. As kids my sister and I played in it. We even camped underneath it. It was the safest place in the world to us. To me the bridge is like home. A laundrymat used to be beside it. We would go there and get a cream soda and sit on the large stones that are in front of the bridge. We would sit there and watch the cars go by. Barracville, what a wonderful home it was.Just wanted you to know how much I enjoy the Barrackville Covered Bridge. Thanks!

Thanks for this information. That rail-trail is on my list of things to do someday.

I appreciate the work involved in creating this web site and the time taken to research the Harrisville Southern Railroad. However, it is apparent that the researcher did not fully inspect the area.

To say that these abutments are the only evidence remaining of the HS RR implies there is nothing remaining of the road bed itself. This is not true as you can walk on the old road bed from its intersection in Harrisville with Court Street/State Route 31 downstream along Front Run to its confluence with Back Run.

There are also bridge abutments where the RR crossed Front Run and then, I believe, some evidence of abutments below the mouth of Front Run on the south side of Back Run, across from the large rock overhang known locally as Courthouse Cave.

The road bed may then be traveled on following Back Run, through Kroger's Pass, to the point where a bridge crossed Back Run and the RR continued around the hill where it then crossed Third Run right before that stream empties into the North Fork of the Hughes River. I believe the abutments at Third Run are still visible as they were later used for the highway bridge that crossed Third Run after the RR was removed.

Before the river was turned into a lake, the RR bed could be traveled on all the way to North Bend State Park and to the point where the abutments still stand to this day where the RR crossed Bonds Creek before entering Cornwallis.

The county road from Harrisville to North Bend State Park actually travels on the RR bed from near the mouth of Jughandle Run to the point where the county road leaves the river and starts up the hill to the Park Entrance.

The RR bed continues along the river through the River Campground to where the park road crosses the river on, I think, some abutments that were built for the RR.

The park's "Trail For The Blind" is actually on the RR bed. Where the "TFTB" ends, the RR bed continues and is used today as a hiking/biking trail to obtain access to the North Bend Rail Trail at Tunnel #13. The previously mentioned abutments for the bridge crossing Bonds Creek can be seen where the RR bed ends and a trail was constructed north along Bonds Creek to join with the North Bend Rail Trail.

I don't know if anyone will really read this or believe anything I've said but I thought someone may find it interesting.

Thanks...

Would love to see the finished product from 1935. Thank you. I have a picture postcard of the men who worked on the bridge back then.

Yea, it is true. The phones are ringing off the hook at the controlled demolition contractors. There is not a recession for demo boys EH!!!!!

Its a historic cantilever truss bridge in the United States. Of course they want blow up and replace with slab of concrete. Soon, a passport or enhanced drivers license will be required to see a historic cantilever truss because the way things are going, pretty soon you will have to go to Canada if you want to see a historic cantilever truss.

I read an article online on the WVADOT saying this bridge is in the works to be replaced. Another UCEB coming, especially to a scenic area where it will blight it up for nature lovers, artists, and photographers. Unless West Virginia replaces it with another truss or "signature" type span instead, look for the lastest of the trend of "UGLY"!

And this year's award for "Weirdest Portal Bracing" goes to...

Rebecca, the bridge is called the "Lilly Bridge" because it is built across the Bluestone Lake over or near the site of an inundated town called "Lilly". I am not sure but the lake was created after the bridge was opened, noting when the town of its namesake was flooded over.

Several references were made here to a town you show as Cassaway and that is misspelled...it is Gassaway, with a 'G'. I should know: I was born in Gassaway in 1952 and raised there. Please make these corrections to your website. Thanks so much.

I believe the firm Richardson, Gordon and Associates is based in Pittsburgh, not New York as stated in a previous comment.

I didn't nominate the bridge, I merely submitted comments to an already-completed nomination. Submitting comments mainly helps make sure the nomination goes through and is not rejected.

Preparing the actual nomination is a lot more work. However, the way to start in many states is to prepare something that is usually called something like a "preliminary eligibility determination" form for the state SHPO. Similar to an actual nomination, but less formal and done through the SHPO, this prepares the groundwork for an actual nomination and you get some input and help from your state SHPO.

Nathan Holth, you must have a direct Hotline to the National Park Service review board as this bridge is now on the NRHP!

Now if someone could help me with my proposals ...

Bing birds eye confirms that it's gone

Bridge might be lost, after I posted this, I was messing google earth and the newest google earth imagery shows bridge is missing.

What a good view. I don't know about you but I think this bridge is fairly important historically. It makes me feel old because I remember when the old timers would call this bridge the new bridge.

Bing's bird's-eye view gives you a much better look at it.

http://binged.it/snUQyL

Please look at view number 2 on this and you will see you are dealing with a 1950s cantilevered bridge with through truss approach spans. This view took a lot of time to find due to trees.

People from this site who are looking to nominate bridges may not want to overlook the Parkersburg Memorial Bridge. I am going to try to get photos of this bridge because it is not a just a truss bridge like it says on this site. I am positive it is a cantilever bridge with through truss approach spans, I am going to work on photos this coming weekend.

I added this one to your new Civil War category J.P.

This bridge was the site of the first land battle of the war in June 1861, and one of two in the county that survived the war without being burned.

I am fairly certain this bridge is cantilevered with some through truss approach spans. A google investigation of this bridge will definitely be warranted. I am going to try to get some pictures the next time I am in the area.

Here is one I discovered in Richmond, Indiana this summer. It is long abandoned and missing many of the balusters but is still quite a site. The railing on the Southeast corner extends off of the bridge an amazing 150 feet.

http://bridgehunter.com/in/wayne/8900220/

Ah, yes, balustrade railing with urn-shaped balusters. Very rare indeed on bridges today. In my state of Michigan, we used to have a lot in Wayne County (Detroit), as well as in Flint, but most of this has been destroyed. Surviving examples tend to suffer from missing balusters, which seems to be the case with this bridge here as well.

On an unrelated sidenote, one of the best places to see this railing design preserved is in Chicago along Wacker Drive and the associated stairways that adjoin the many historic bascule bridges along Wacker Drive.

This type of decorative railing is becoming rare. It's nice to see some here even in poor condition.

Thank you so much for the information and picture of the Patrick Street Bridge. My understanding is it was named after my Great Great Uncle, Doctor Spicer Patrick. Doctor Spicer Patrick was a representative (one of four from the Charleston area) to a meeting of Virginians to vote on secession. When it was discovered that these 4 were going to vote against secession they were forced up into the attic of the home where the meeting was held. They escapsed by climbing out a window and down a tree. When they got back to Charleston they immediately began filing for statehood for western Virginia. Doctor Spicer's younger (by 10 years) brother George Patrick was my Great-Great-Grandfather. He owned a tavern and for a while owned a part of a salt manufacturing company on the river. They both owned slaves. I have a picture of them supposedly sitting outside of Dr. Spicer's home on the Elk River. I have no idea where to send this information so here it is. Thanks again - Susan Taylor

It is too bad we can't get a street view of this bridge because it is a very interesting bridge.

I think the Satellite sweep hasn't been by this bridge in sometime and it recently received a new paint job.

An interesting thing to note. This is all that is left of the Hi Carperter Suspension Bridge. It was considered the sister bridge to the ill fated Silver Bridge because they were both built in 1928, and they both used eyebars as opposed to wire suspension cables. It should be repainted silver to see how it would have looked back then.

This bridge was not built during the 1960s it was built during the 1990s

But your recommendations are too logical Nathan. That would be like my professor telling The Powers That Be to consolidate the education department into one large building after renovating the campus as opposed to having them be in parts of three buildings in different ends. Too logical. It makes too much sense, so the result was it did not happen. But you know if you like to walk around a lot then that's a deal for you ...

The Google overview shows shadows. A slab would not create that much of one. Street view angled over reveals bridges as twin steel deck girders.

Railings are not primary structural elements of a cantilever truss bridge. Deteriorated railings do not justify structure replacement. If the ADT is accurate, that is a lot of a traffic for a 20 foot roadway. My recommendation for a project at this location would be to construct a second bridge, rehabilitate the existing bridge, and form a one-way couplet of bridges. Having two separate bridges makes it possible to shut down one bridge for repair without complete road closure, and it also preserves a historic bridge type that is very rare in West Virginia.

They have a vote going on with the design for the new bridge. The winner seems to be a haunched plate girder. By the look of this truss, it looks too narrow as well as what the last guy said about the rusting railings

this has gone on to long the railings are rusted off on the bottom , if a car hits them they are in the river. it should have been done a while ago. GETTER DONE

On google earth it looks as if the new bridge was built down stream nearly 300 yards and the old bridge left intact but abandoned.

I think it may be an error. At least in the last 30+ years there has never been a through truss bridge there.

I have been going over these bridges since the early 1990s, and I do not remember a truss bridge at this location.

I would agree these bridges are lost.

Looking at the google system I don't think this is a truss bridge at all. Looks more like a poorly maintained concrete slab bridge. This is the future of these slab bridges, they are not going to last a century like the truss bridges they are replacing. They will more then likely end up like this bridge, structurally deficient after only 45 years in service.

State listed this bridge as replaced, I don't think its actually being used anymore except for farmers traffic as the road is nonexistent after the bridge.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tlc_wv/59805386/in/photostream/

photos of the bridge

awesome looking bridge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stouts_Mill_Bridge.jpg

here is a picture of the bridge

http://bp2.blogger.com/_W0haNXCBfrU/RvxksNcA9SI/AAAAAAAAAvc/5Is4KvW1lLA/s1600-h/sutton+and+sago+and+jared+009.JPG

That is odd, the street views shows severe rusting but my photos don't.

Actually the covered bridge burned to the ground in 1964. It was not used after the building of the current through truss bridge. This truss bridge also must have recently been painted because my photos don't show the rust that the street view does. Hopefully this bodes well for this beautiful bridge.

It seems like this bridge received a new coat of paint in the last year or so.

There were several covered bridges over the Cheat that were taken out by the 1985 flood. This could have been one of them.

Is this the only time US 50 crosses the Cheat River in West Virginia? I have an old post card possibly from the late 60s of a Cheat River double-barreled covered bridge along US 50 that was closed when the photo was taken. Could this through truss be what bypassed and replaced it? I wonder what and when was the fate of the covered bridge. Anyway with the through truss, it does look like its in great shape. Structurally Deficient at 45.6 could be elimated if the superstructure is worked on and the whole bridge is maintained routinely. 28.5 feet wide is almost not narrow at all, and around 1200 vehicles a day is not too busy. This would be a great example of a state/US highway through truss being kept around for what it was built for especially in the mountain-like setting.

The bridge is located in Jackson County WV, not Mason County WV.

This bridge was replaced and removed in 2010, with a new 2 lane cement span.

This is a beautiful setting. Did this bridge replace another or is it a new route across the valley?

I believe that this is the old bridge:

http://bridgehunter.com/wv/fayette/fayette-station/

Does anybody have pictures of the old bridge?

From what I remember the new bridge was going to stay open while the new bridge is being constructed at more of an angle across the river. After the the bridge will be removed, so it could be a year or two before it's removed.

To clarify Brian's update here, while demolition is indeed part of the project which is currently underway, the entire bridge is still standing, albeit closed off and within the active construction zone as of July 15 during my site visit to the bridge. Not sure when the bridge will be demolished. The contractors are currently actually using the bridge to conduct construction activities.

You have the truss wrong. It's a Burr Truss.

Link below removed from main page - plans still accessible here:

http://www.wv.bidx.com/lettings/JAN1911/9811704/index.html

I believe this bridge is slated for demolition and replacement. WVDOT let a contract for a Lower Lambert Run Arch Bridge and I suspect this is the bridge.

I suppose during the repainting, it could be classed as a "covered bridge"...

Yeah. Bad joke.

J.P.,

I think you are right; this bridge is way too small to have been a railroad bridge, and it even looks too small for vehicular traffic; I would guess also that this was originally built as a pedestrian bridge. Also, the entrance to its adjacent tunnel is pedestrian-sized, somewhat confirming this.

Not sure but i think this bridge might have been built around the same time as the tunnels and might have been a bridge built for pedestrians. at first i thought it was a bypassed converted for pedestrian use. Now I'm not sure.

Andy,

Thanks the link worked perfect. Hadn't stumbled onto West Virginia's bidding server before, nice to have that link handy.

It is interesting that only the 4th span appears to be non-original. I had assumed that both of the smaller spans were not original, since they have riveted connections while the two larger spans, which I presumed were older, have pin connections. They must have went with pin connections for the larger spans due to the size of the spans (easier construction). What is interesting is they found an identical smaller span to add to the bridge.

As for why a span was added, they didn't always do flood calculations like we do today, so maybe they added it for that, or maybe there were adjustments in the dam, etc.

http://www.wv.bidx.com/main/index.html

Here is the website under the heading "Letting of January 19th 2011" (at the bottom of the page) Then click on the link labeled "Exhibit". Give the page some time to download because the file is 52 MB.

Let me know if you have any troubles.

Andy,

Can you point me to the original plans for this bridge? Feel free to email me directly.

This bridge is scheduled for demolition. The project bids January 19th and I'm not sure what the timeline for the project is. I was confused while looking at the original drawing because the 1921 drawings show a 3 span structure (Identical to what is there minus the small eastern most span) They also have drawings showing a 4 span structure. I found at written on the drawings saying to 4th span was added identical to span 3 sometime beween 1921 and 1936. Thought you might want to update these items.