Thats a beauty...thanks Chester!
This is quite a strong design too, no doubt owing to the industrial nature of its usage. Its quite similar to the Interlaken Mill bridge over in RI ( http://bridgehunter.com/ri/kent/interlaken-mill ) with its floorbeams at or above the lower chord and pinned endposts, never mind the much more substantial upper and lower chords.
Hope they can find a preservation use for this one...its much to important to be left in this condition!
Chester thanks for Sharing, AWESOME!
The old topo maps are a help here too. Middletown 1893 NW shows the railroad still complete to East Berlin. Middletown 1952 NW shows the line cut at the East Berlin station with a road to the north. The outriggers on the north side of the road bridge could have supported a walkway for pedestrians. But that girder bridge almost looks too narrow for a track. Maybe it was replaced after abandonment?
Yes, I would definitely agree that it's not a railroad bridge. The "East Berlin" section of TylerCityStation (http://www.tylercitystation.info/stations-e.html) has an 1895 company letterhead showing what looks to be this bridge with the railroad bridge downstream. There seems to be some consensus that the adjacent pipeline bridge is the old RR bridge. There are photos of both bridges here: http://blog.thevalleylocal.net/2015/01/ghosts-of-east-berlin...
Good find, Ian! You are right--the only list I am aware of that includes this bridge is Prof. Lutenegger's at UMass.
http://www.ecs.umass.edu/adaptive_bridge_use/Literature/berl...
I have been meaning to visit the site and finally did today. An interesting feature is the outriggers on the north side of the bridge, whose function is unknown. The bridge is far too light to carry the railraod although the wood under all the debris looks like railroad ties.
This bridge is a spectacular discovery! It is always a good day when a lenticular truss surfaces. I will have to add it to my Connecticut bucket list.