Rail bridge from Beardstown Riverfront
Photo taken by Nathan Morton in August 2007
BH Photo #127242
I can remember living in Beardstown as a kid when the old swing bridge was still in place. It took large barges forever to anchor barges north and south of the bridge while they transported just a few at a time through the narrow channel. We used to always wave at the bridge tenders as we would pass under the bridge in our speed boat or fishing boat. Then when I was in the 3rd grade (1971-72), they replaced it with the current lift bridge, seen here. We thought the most impressive thing about the new bridge was that it was remote controlled from the yard about 1-2 miles south. The bridge tenders house was no more, which was sad.
It looks like the approach spans of this bridge are still historic, despite the lift span not being historic.