Rating:
2 votes

C.C. Clay Bridge (Northbound)

Morgan County, Alabama, and Madison County, Alabama

Photos 

The replacement slab

The historic truss is gone, replaced by the flat slab. The old bridge was a constant source of complaints for being too narrow and too dangerous. It carried the northbound traffic of US 231.

A near-twin was built next to the original, that is extant and carries the southbound lanes of US 231/AL 53. Photos of that bridge follow.

The replacement was built between the historic truss bridges and currently carries the northbound lanes.

Photo taken by J.R. Manning in November 2007

BH Photo #109695

Map 

Videos 

Play video on YouTube

Bridge-Demolition

A section of the Clement C. Clay Bridge crossing the Tennessee River at Huntsville, AL is blown and dropped into the river on August 31, 2006 about 10:30 am. If I can get there next Thursday, I will get a video of another section being demo'ed. UPDATE: The video is now available... Bridge Demolition, Part 2

Play video on YouTube

Bridge Demolition, Part 2

Another section of the Clay Bridge is brought down on 9-7-06... Be sure to see Part 1, also...

Play video on YouTube

Facts 

Overview
Lost through truss bridge over Tennessee River on US 231/AL 53 in Huntsville
Location
Huntsville, Morgan County, Alabama, and Madison County, Alabama
Status
Demolished and replaced
History
Built 1931; Replaced 2006
Design
Cantilevered Warren through truss
4 Warren through truss spans
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 288.1 ft.
Total length: 1,852.1 ft.
Deck width: 19.7 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.2 ft.
Also called
Whitesburg Bridge
Tennessee River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+34.57659, -86.56597   (decimal degrees)
34°34'36" N, 86°33'57" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/539809/3826175 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Farley
Inventory numbers
AL 916 (Alabama bridge number)
BH 10177 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Alabama (971)
Built 1931 (937)
Built during 1930s (11,774)
Cantilevered (306)
Cantilevered truss (250)
County line crossing (533)
Huntsville, Alabama (12)
Lost (24,994)
Lost 2006 (355)
Lost during 2000s (4,199)
Madison County, Alabama (42)
Morgan County, Alabama (20)
 Owned by state (16,053)
Replaced by new bridge (16,784)
Span length 250-500 feet (1,196)
Structurally deficient (14,100)
Tennessee River (44)
Through truss (15,191)
Total length 1000-2500 feet (1,889)
Truss (32,976)
US 231 (18)
Warren through truss (1,617)
Warren truss (6,583)

Update Log 

  • November 18, 2012: New video from Ben Tate
  • June 23, 2012: Updated by Ben Tate: created separate page for extant 1965 southbound bridge
  • July 18, 2010: Updated by David Backlin: Updated Status: Replaced 2006
  • January 15, 2009: Updated by J.R. Manning
  • January 26, 2008: New photos from J.R. Manning

Sources 

  • J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
  • James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • David Backlin - us71 [at] cox [dot] net
  • Ben Tate - benji5221 [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Flickr
  • Wikipedia
Post a comment here

Comments 

Tennessee River Bridge
Posted January 29, 2008, by James McCray (jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Well, I guess that Mr. Manning got to the bridge before I did. Oh well! Here are the pictures that I took of the bridge. I also remember crossing the old (northbound 231) bridge. It was torn down in 2006 I think. I got good pictures of the remaining truss (southbound 231) bridge because I ran up to the approach to the bridge and took the pictures when there was a break in the traffic. I do not advise anyone to do what I did, however!

Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.