Argentine Boulevard Bridge
Description
Bridge originally constructed for Kansas City Belt Railway (Kansas City Southern) in 1890. Partially destroyed in 1903 flooding. Pratt trusses of two western spans replaced by pony trusses and bridge was used for vehicle traffic from 1908-1951.The original right of way of the Belt Railway ran from the AT&SF railway in Argentine, KS and followed what is now Argentine Boulevard and crossed the still standing but unused bridge south of Kaw Point and the James Street bridge.
When the Kaw River is Low pieces of steel truss from the old bridge emerges along with a wooden tie lined concrete base of one of the bridge piers on the west side of the Argentine Island.
Brief history
Researched 4/29/2008
The Argentine Boulevard bridge was built in 1908 to carry Argentine Boulevard, and 18th Street.
It was a four span thru truss spanning the Kansas River.
On July 14, 1951 at the start of the great flood of 1951, an oil tanker drifted downstream from a field, and struck the bridge.
The bridge was damaged at the west span, and would never be reopened.
In 1959, with the building of the 18th Street Bridge, the Argentine Boulevard bridge was removed, and never replaced.
The old road grade leading to the bridge still exists, however fallen into disrepair.
When the water in the Kansas River is low, a piece of the truss still remains, emerging from the river bottom.
Facts
- Overview
- Lost through truss bridge over Kansas River and Argentine Island on Argentine Boulevard, 18th Street in Kansas City
- Location
- Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas
- Status
- Replaced by the Nearby 18th Street Expressway Bridge Downstream
- History
- Built 1890, rebuilt 1908; damaged by 1951 flood, removed 1959
- Railroads
- - Kansas City Belt Railway
- Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS)
- Design
- Two Pratt pony trusses (west end - originally Pratt through trusses)
Three Pratt through trusses (east end) - Also called
- Southern Bridge
18th Street Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.07966, -94.65199 (decimal degrees)
39°04'47" N, 94°39'07" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/357107/4326915 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Shawnee
- Inventory number
- BH 36502 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- May 19, 2021: New photos from Luke
- October 26, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Kansas City Southern Railway", "Railroad", "Rail-to-road"
- February 11, 2013: Updated by Chris Knight: Telling Details of Low River Conditions of the bridge Remerging.
- January 7, 2012: Updated by Ross Warnell: Added builder; added detail to design description; added history to description.
- April 29, 2008: Essay added by Max Johnson
Comments
Argentine Blvd bridge. East end looking west.
Recently found a few more photo's of the Old Southern Bridge (Argentine Blvd Bridge), between Armourdale, and Argentine in Kansas City Kansas.
This image was taken sometime in the early 1940's. The bridge crossing at the top is the Argentine Boulevard Bridge, to the left you see some storage tanks, these are some of the tanks that took out the west end of the bridge in the flood of 1951. This image was found in the "Missouri Valley Collection" at the Kansas City Missouri Public Library.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ks/wyandotte/argentine-boulevard/
1930's aerial of the Argentine Blvd bridge.