It was dismantled and moved to nome Alaska.
Here's a bit of an update on the bridge's status:
While the main two spans are in subpar condition, they are most certainly structurally stable. On the other hand, the approaches are nearly completely rotted out. About 1/3 of the North side approach has collapsed as of November 2022, and the South side isn't much better. My bet is that both sides will have completely collapsed in the next 3 or so years. The main spans are also in terrible condition, and due to it's remote location, the odds of this bridge being turned into a trail or it being preserved is almost non-existent. A bridge of this size and age being unmaintained for more than 50 years explains it's current state. Very uncertain fate for such a beautiful bridge.
Visited the bridge via train ride July 7,2022. Posted picture to provide update.
One source says the highway was built in 1936.
Previous bridge (30 years old at the time) was washed out in 56 by a flood: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/10378271/
I totally agree Luke!
Bridge looks 100% relocated here.
Built circa 1949. Bypassed circa 1979
I recently came across this bridge. I was hoping someone had some history on it.
This reminds me of Conde McCullough's Coos Bay Bridge in Oregon with its combination of a downward-sweeping top chord above the deck and an upward-arching lower chord below the deck.
This bridge replaces an earlier cable suspended foot bridge at this location. The Nome-Taylor highway was never completed. This was the last bridge constructed on this road.
This is the oldest truss bridge in Alaska. Originally the Cushman Street bridge built to cross the Chena River in Fairbanks in 1917. Dismantled and re-erected by the Alaska Road Commission over the Kougarok River in 1961.
Bridge only stood at this location for about 16 years before it was replaced (That bridge was also replaced in 2007). A gentleman in Canada bought it and moved it there as a toll bridge for logging use.
https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1968/8/1/canadas-biggest...
In Fall 2019 the replacement buried bridge, located 150 feet west of the functionally obsolete Moore cable-stayed bridge, was opened to traffic and the bypassed historic Moore bridge, the only cantilever cable-stayed bridge in Alaska, was repurposed as a pedestrian viewpoint and wayside attraction.
DOOMED:
FY19 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program Projects
15 Rural Projects - At least $63.7 million required, up to $127.7 million awarded
Alaska – M.P. 86.6 Bird Creek Pony Truss Bridge Replacement Up to $3,871,913
Alaska Railroad Corporation
Replaces a nearly 70-year-old bridge on the Alaska Railroad (ARR) mainline that will allow ARR to operate 286,000-pound (286K) rail cars and double-stack trains.
What year, at least approximately, was the this bridge built? Was it the first non-railroad bridge over the Knik R.?
history states "Replaced 1959 by current bridge and moved", where was it moved?
Great advice.Thanks.I usually never see them in the Pocono mountains in Pennsylvania when fishing.Then again,i could jinx myself by saying that.
Always wear jangly bells and carry pepper spray in case of a bear encounter.
That could be it.I do see gates on the bridge which could keep bears off of the bridge but I wouldn't want to tangle with a bear,especially when they're feeding on salmon!
George This It?
:
Rehabilitation of Railroad Truss Bridge, St. Regis, Montana ( formerly Burlington Northern )
Stiffened truss by the arch-reinforced method ( U S Patent No,
4,691, 399.) with no interruption of train traffic
for Cooper's E-80 Live Loading.
Damaged By Quake
Andy, the article says "A detour was required so the new bridge could be built in the same location, keeping the road straight and reducing construction delays.", which means the bridge will be demolished to make way for the new one.
Nice of the article to give us a DOT (Usable!) picture though.
And good job finding said article.
Took this video 5/14/18
Great information! Found it looking for info for my youtube videos. You can link to my video if you like. Footage taken 5/14/18
Bridge is proposed for removal and replacement as of November 2017.
Here's a photo I took from a train when I worked for the Alaska Railroad years ago if you can use it. A little different perspective. --RJ--
Also take a look at the footings - the are angled towards the center to take the compression loads from the bottom members.
Luke- Very interesting reading description of the bridge in your link. It seems it was built as a cantilever and converted to an arch at completion. The highest connection at the abutment was under tension supporting the cantilever until the opposite sides were ready to join. At that point the load was shifted from tension at the abutment(s) to compression at the center of the structurer making it an arch with a pin connection. Two 80 foot side spans went from being anchors for the cantilever to simple spans. 240ft. for the longest span and 400'6'' plus the two 80' side spans.
This bridge was still standing in late June of 2017, although part of the timber approach is collapsing. I'll post my photos of it in the near future.
Switchback Arch was the original name the railroad gave it, and the historic article explains how it functions as a 3-hinge arch: https://books.google.com/books?id=RDUxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA218&dq=S...
White Pass & Yukon RR is still running during the Summer.
How is this an arch? It is a cantilever design.
The railroad refers to it as "Steel Bridge" and since they own it I expect that is the proper name.
I don't have a measurement but when built it was considered the tallest cantilever in the world according to the railroad.
Owners claim construction date of 1901.
I am a historian in Beaver County, PA, where Penn Bridge Co. was located. My brother-in-law is an engineer currently doing structural work on this bridge, and he found the Penn Bridge Co. symbol on it. I didn't see Penn Bridge credited on your site, so I wanted to drop a line. Photos attached, and free to use.
The bridge still shows up in Google Earth...
bridge destroyed. Source: On Google Earth and the pictures placed there by tourists
Anchor River Bridge No. 0910 was found eligible for listing on the National Register for Historic Places in 2003.
Been to Alaska "Bridge" and "Road" can truly be relative terms!
The present Porcupine Crossing bridge is being replaced. Completion: Summer 2017.
Same as BH 60224.
This bridge used to cross the Mendenhall River in Juneau; it was known as the Brotherhood Bridge. When it was replaced there in the early 1960s it was moved to Haines.
I hauled the parts for the Kuzitrin bridge from Nome to the river in the summer of 1960. I did the survey for the abutments. They started putting up the bridge but a Crain collapsed with one of the truss sections and put the work on hold. I did the inspection on the batter pile driving. Hit blue ice and curled up the H-beams. Put Pointed shoes on the beams and drove them into the ice. Summer of 1961 we bathed and did our laundry by jumping into the 38 degree water and then swimming fast to shore. George Peterson
Just heard that a local superstition is to stop before crossing and throw 3 rocks off the bridge and make 3 wishes. They do this both ways, on the way out and in the way back.
Susitna, not Sustina. Love the site.
There is a valid approach to preserve this important historic
bridge(REF. The Secretary of Interior's Standards with Regard to Repair, Rehabilitation, and Replacement Situations,endorsed in " FINAL REPORT A MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR HISTORIC BRIDGES IN VIRGINIA".
The approach -Rehabilitate the bridge to carry an HS 20 (36 tons) economically and as quickly as possible.
One of these massive and older Pennsylvania through trusses exists in Alaska. Look how tall the trusses are. These kinds of bridges are becoming extremely rare and every last one should be preserved.
Nobody has noted how significant this bridge is so I added a statement of significance. At 700 feet its one of the longest simple truss spans around.
In going through the doomed bridges listed I came across an article about the loss of this bridge last year. Alaska DOT threw a party topped off by blowing up this bridge to smithereens.
http://www.dot.state.ak.us/comm/pressbox/arch_2011/PR11-2512...
What an interesting design. It must have been a fun search to find these pictures.
A bridge in Nenana... over the Tanana... makes me want a Banana... ;-P
It is good to see a photo posted from Alaska. We need more Alaska photo's. If I could take up a collection I would be willing to go to AK on a bridgehunting trip!
Go to following link for the contractors very interesting report on Phase 1 repairs. Include lifting Span #4, replacing one pier and strengthening existing piers. Phase 2, not yet put out to bid involves seismic devices for all old spans...but may not ever happen.
http://mceer.buffalo.edu/research/HighwayPrj/Workshops/Truss...
I fully agree; this is one of the most incredible truss bridges I've ever seen--maybe some verification, but from the Street view, the larger span actually looks like a subdivided Warren through truss rather than a Pennsylvania--you can trace the main diagonals, top to bottom, all the way across, typical of a Warren configuration. Anyone else have any input?
That makes sense. The NBI 1957 date is undoubtedly the relocation date. The bridge did look a lot older than a 1957 bridge. This is one of the finest historic bridges in Alaska. Photos of this bridge would be much appreciated.
Chuck, if you are in a position to submit more historical details on this bridge and/or take pictures, it sure would be a great addition to this listing.
I believe this bridge was put across Birch Creek circa 1928. It was dismantled from some other location in Alaska and reassembled at current location.
The realinement of the bridge is suppose to be the next phase of the project. If you could look down station you would be able see that pier 2 and pier 3 was shifted,(tilted,) at the same time that pier 4 failed. In order to realine the superstructure, there will have to be some rework of those piers,(substructure,) The orignal concrete piers do not have any rebar in them and the cold joints could shift with a good earthquake like pier did.
This bridge was hit by a truck and closed for repairs as a result. I only found one photos of the bridge on the DOT website, but from this one photo I see rivets and v-lacing. Thus, the 1981 construction date appears to be incorrect. I wonder if the other 1980s truss listed in the NBI is also older.
I hear you Nathan... If one historic bridge can be saved, so can others. Missouri and Pensylvania are wrecking historic bridges, Alaska shouldn't follow their trend. It is always apalling to see UCEB's being put up beside a beautiful and savable truss. The "kaboom" will surely sting, and out of the dust remains the concrete "thing"...
Absolutely pathetic. Nobody can try to tell me this historic bridge is in the way of anything. Don't demolish it... leave it standing next to its replacement as an abandoned historic landmark! It is so simple.
The largest and least populated state in the United States of America, and even here we can't leave the historic bridge standing next to its replacement?! What harm could it possible cause to leave it? Worst thing that could happen is an earthquake splits it in half, and that didn't stop the Million Dollar Bridge.
Somebody said something about the bridge being misaligned after being re-set. I wonder if the Earth Quake caused it to be off-set and so it wasn't possible to re-set it straight. Maybe all of the piers on one side are offset.
It was built as a part of the railroad to service the Kennecot copper mine. After the mine closed it became a road to access the Copper River Valley. Not a lot of development there but without the bridge and road it would be even less.
Actually there are large coal deposits in the area and the railroad was built with their development in mind as much as the copper mine but Theodore Roosevelt got into a fight with Morgan and the Guggenhimes who bought leases on the coal mining rights and the whole deal was killed. Depending on how you look on it it was a win for conservation or a loss for Alaska's right to develop the resources of their own state. It's a battle that continues today..
The plan was to build copper smelting plants to use the ore and coal and export copper. As it ended up only high grade copper ore concentrate was mined and shipped to Oregon for smelting. When the very high grade ore was done in the 1930's it closed. There is a lot of good ore remaining but it would have to be smelted in place and that is not going to happen under current conditions.
Did anyone notice that when they lifted the span back up they had a little trouble with alignment? http://www.flickr.com/photos/giantginkgo/247997934/
Where does this bridge go to?
fourth span collapsed in earthquake on March 27, 1964, collapsed span repaired 2005.
So that means they were driving on that makeshift roadway for 41 years!
Yes, there is a photo.
I did not take it, but because it is copyrighted, I can't download it to put it on here.
But here is the link to a picture of it with the span repaired.
Does anyone have any pictures of the bridge set back on the pier?
The span the collapsed has been reset, and lifted back on the pier, and is reopen to all traffic.
Images taken 8-19-07. A true bridge to nowhere. The 86 mile Nome-Taylor gravel highway ends at this one-lane bridge spanning the Kougarok River. A trail proceeds from their to the mining area at Taylor, Alaska. The road was never finished. Weight Limit is 10 tons. Bridge was reassembled at it's present site. Origin of bridge unknown.
This is absolutely incredible. The bridge is collapsed from an Earthquake but it is still open to traffic. I had to do a double-take on that. I guess they still have the pioneer spirit in Alaska.....or at least did in 1964.
This is absolutely incredible. The bridge is collapsed from an Earthquake but it is still open to traffic. I had to do a double-take on that. I guess they still have the pioneer spirit in Alaska.....or at least did in 1964.
