Fishbelly Deck Truss
View Exhibit mapFishbelly deck truss bridges are an exceedingly rare form of deck truss with a distinctive polygonal bottom chord that is parallel to the top chord on all panels except for the last couple panels, where it slopes upward to meet the endpost. The design was usually employed where a substructure was being reused to build a new bridge, but the new bridge needed deeper trusses so it would be stronger. making the truss deeper in the center, but shallower at the ends allowed the substructure to be reused, while also offering the strength of a deeper truss.
Avoca Trail - Mill Creek Bridge (St. Clair County, Michigan)
Fishbelly Pratt deck truss bridge over Mill Creek on Wadhams to Avoca Trail (formerly Pere Marquette RR)Open to pedestrians only
BO - Black River Bridge (Lorain County, Ohio)
Lost Deck truss bridge over Black River on Baltimore & Ohio RailroadReplaced by a new bridge
Buzzi Unicem - LaSalle Rail Bridge (LaSalle County, Illinois)
Built 1896, two deck truss spans removed and replaced with a Parker truss in 1932Through truss bridge over Illinois River/I&M Canal/Railroad (IAIS) on Buzzi Unicem's private rail line in La SalleOpen
CNTP - New River Viaduct (3rd) (Scott County, Tennessee)
Built 1908; Replaced by a new bridge and mostly removed 1963Abandoned Pratt deck truss bridge over New River once carried Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway's Cincinnati Southern Railroad (later Norfolk Southern), before being bypassedAbandoned
H&BTM - Cypher Bridge (Bedford County, Pennsylvania)
Built 1937Abandoned fishbelly Warren deck truss bridge over Raystown Branch Juniata River on former H&BTDerelict/abandoned
MEC - Kennebec River Bridge (Somerset County, Maine)
Built ca.1880 to replace a deck truss covered bridge; destroyed/damaged by flood 1901; converted to pedestrian bridge 1950; destroyed 1987 by flood and replaced with modern pedestrian bridgeLost Warren deck truss bridge over Kennebec River on Maine Central RRReplaced by a new pedestrian bridge
MON - Tippecanoe River Bridge (White County, Indiana)
Built ca. 1895, demolished ca. 1990'sLost Deck truss bridge over Tippecanoe River and access roads on former Monon Railroad in MonticelloLost
PGR - Soquel Creek Bridge (Santa Cruz County, California)
Pratt Deck truss bridge over Soquel Creek on Progressive Rail Inc. tracksOpen Railroad only