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Illinois Terminal - Venice Trestle

Madison County, Illinois

Photos 

Former east approach to the trestle

Photo taken by Nathan Morton in January 2007

Enlarge

BH Photo #137083

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Lost Stringer and Truss bridge over various streets on former Illinois Terminal Railroad approach to McKinley Bridge
Location
Venice, Madison County, Illinois
Status
Abandoned, with most of the structure removed
History
Built 1910; Wood trestle destroyed by fire and collapsed 1990s; Portions of burned trestle removed ca. 2004; Steel trestle removed 2006-2007; Truss bridge removed late 2008.
Railroads
- Illinois Terminal Railroad (IT; ITC)
- Interurban
- Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA)
Design
one end: wooden trestle (south end of town, crossed IL 3) - partially collapsed in the 1990s, some of it burned prior to total demolition.
over TRRA railroad yard: 2 span Warren through Truss (connected with wooden trestle)
McKinley Bridge approach: steel trestle
Approximate latitude, longitude
+38.66334, -90.16115   (decimal degrees)
38°39'48" N, 90°09'40" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/747004/4283243 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Granite City
Inventory number
BH 38168 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Abandoned (3,927)
Beam (16,880)
Built 1910 (1,206)
Built during 1910s (9,968)
Deck girder (6,303)
Girder (11,169)
Grade Separated Rail Crossing (421)
Illinois (4,929)
Illinois Terminal Railroad (48)
Interurban (998)
Madison County, Illinois (125)
 Owned by railroad (13,494)
Plate girder (8,724)
Railroad (16,455)
Skewed (5,012)
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (28)
Through truss (16,760)
Timber stringer (4,318)
Truss (35,433)
Venice, Illinois (7)
Warren through truss (1,704)
Warren truss (7,000)

Update Log 

  • September 19, 2017: New photo from Dave King
  • June 19, 2016: Updated by Luke: Edited entry: A small section of the bridge remains in Google Maps.
  • September 23, 2010: New photos from Richard Dale
  • February 19, 2010: Updated by Kim Harvey: design, updated GPS
  • April 13, 2009: Updated by Nathan Morton
  • March 28, 2009: Updated by Kim Harvey: corrected status
  • March 22, 2009: Updated by Kim Harvey: the truss bridge over TRAA yard is still standing according to terraserver
  • November 20, 2008: Added by Kim Harvey

Sources 

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Comments 

Illinois Terminal - Venice Trestle
Posted February 8, 2022, by RICK SHELTON (shltn [dot] rck66 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

April 1999.

Illinois Terminal - Venice Trestle
Posted July 10, 2021, by Al Grayson (10-i-c [at] protonmail [dot] com)

Until the OSHA and state OSHA agencies were established and started getting really tough, companies that mandated even basic safety provisions typically would have serious problems getting workers. Just getting workers to wear hardhats was an uphill battle.

My Dad had a woodworking company back in the 1940s. The workers would take the guards off of the saws, drills, shapers, planers. He would have a worker reinstall the guards at the end of the day. He said that when he required a worker to use protective gear that they would walk off of the job, so he pretty much gave up. Most were missing fingers, thumbs, an eye, had scars.

Illinois Terminal - Venice Trestle
Posted July 8, 2021, by Chris Jones (milkmanchris [at] hotmail [dot] com)

My father in-law used to work for the Illinois Terminal RR on their bridge crew. He happened to have some old photographs of this trestle while it was being rehabilitated (early 80's?). He emphasized the disregard for safety practices his foreman routinely exercised.

Venice Trestle
Posted March 27, 2009, by Charles Robinson (therockisland [at] charter [dot] net)

I went by this bridge last Sunday, March 22, 2009, and noticed that the truss spans over the TRRA yard had been removed.

On April 25, 2004, I did snap a couple of shots of the trestle, but the quality of the pictures isn't very good, but hey, at least I had the foresight to grab some pics of it!