Rating:
3 votes

Steamboat Bill Bridge

Limestone County, Alabama, and Morgan County, Alabama

Photos 

Overview

The bridge is officially called the Captain William J. Hudson "Steamboat Bill" Memorial Bridge.

Photo taken by James McCray

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BH Photo #111714

Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview
Cantilevered Warren through truss bridge over Tennesee River and L&N SOU RR on US 31/ALT US 72/AL 20
Location
Decatur, Limestone County, Alabama, and Morgan County, Alabama
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1961; reconstructed 1997
Design
Cantilevered Warren through and deck truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 359.9 ft.
Total length: 2,502.1 ft. (0.5 mi.)
Deck width: 30.2 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+34.61292, -86.97310   (decimal degrees)
34°36'47" N, 86°58'23" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/502466/3830119 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Decatur
Inventory numbers
AL 7320 (Alabama bridge number)
BH 36258 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Alabama (1,021)
Built 1961 (241)
Built during 1960s (2,171)
Cantilevered (309)
Cantilevered truss (251)
County line crossing (534)
Decatur, Alabama (5)
Have street view (29,873)
Limestone County, Alabama (23)
 Morgan County, Alabama (20)
Open (41,201)
Owned by state (16,638)
Span length 250-500 feet (1,283)
Through truss (17,816)
Total length over 2500 feet (966)
Truss (36,713)
Warren through truss (1,725)
Warren truss (7,089)

Update Log 

  • April 22, 2021: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
  • September 6, 2011: Updated by Ben Tate: incorporated NBI info
  • July 31, 2011: New photos from Ben Tate
  • May 3, 2010: New Street View added by J.P.
  • January 2, 2009: Updated by James McCray: Updated GPS coordinates
  • December 28, 2008: New photos from Calvin Sneed
  • February 11, 2008: Added by James McCray

Sources 

  • James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Calvin Sneed - us43137415 [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • J.P. - wildcatjon2000 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Ben Tate - benji5221 [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Geoff Hubbs
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Comments 

Steamboat Bill Bridge
Posted May 21, 2019, by Daniel

That's an unusual design. I don't recall seeing other bridges that gradually transition from a through truss to a deck truss. I wonder why they did it.

Steamboat Bill Bridge
Posted September 5, 2010, by Kevin Paulk (editor [at] charter [dot] net)

Actually, it is the 1999 bridge that replaced the Helen Keller drawbridge. Steamboat Bill supplemented the drawbridge and carried northbound U.S. 31/eastbound U.S. 72A traffic until the newest bridge was built; it now is the southbound/westbound crossing.