Rating:
1 vote

5th Street Viaduct

Berrien County, Michigan

Photos 

MC - North 5th Street Bridge

looking east

Photo from old postcard

BH Photo #461456

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Lost Pratt through truss bridge over MC RR on North 5th Street
Location
Niles, Berrien County, Michigan
Status
Removed and replaced with street-level RR crossing
History
Built 1891; Removed 1977
Railroads
- Michigan Central Railroad (MC)
- New York Central Railroad (NYC)
- Penn Central Railroad (PC)
Design
Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 130.0 ft.
Total length: 178.0 ft.
Deck width: 23.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.83637, -86.25357   (decimal degrees)
41°50'11" N, 86°15'13" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/561976/4631877 (zone/easting/northing)
Inventory number
BH 87340 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (8,366)
Berrien County, Michigan (53)
Built 1891 (242)
Built during 1890s (3,192)
Deck girder (6,303)
Girder (11,169)
Lost (28,457)
Lost 1977 (93)
Lost during 1970s (944)
Michigan (1,390)
Michigan Central Railroad (47)
 New York Central Railroad (996)
Niles, Michigan (7)
Penn Central Railroad (1,538)
Plate girder (8,724)
Pratt through truss (6,055)
Pratt truss (10,295)
Span length 125-175 feet (4,418)
Through truss (16,767)
Total length 175-250 feet (4,475)
Truss (35,443)

Update Log 

  • November 22, 2021: Updated by Luke: Added imagery and loss date
  • November 22, 2021: Photo imported by Dave King
  • December 11, 2019: Updated by Mike Kerkau: Build year, design
  • December 1, 2019: New photo from Geoff Hubbs

Sources 

  • Geoff Hubbs
  • Mike Kerkau - mjkerkau [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Luke
  • Flickr - Commemorative Plaque on remaining abutment stone
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Comments 

5th Street Viaduct
Posted November 22, 2021, by Luke

Allegedly reused at a boat ramp on Bond Street.

https://www.abandonedrails.com/niles-michigan

The story sounds fishy.

North 5th Street Bridge
Posted December 31, 2019, by Mike Kerkau (mjkerkau [at] gmail [dot] com)

Not long after, as it turns out - it's gone, and the road is re-aligned, by 1980. So, that work was ostensibly done in the late 70s.

Turns out also that the road used to curve right here, which explains the pin position.

North 5th Street Bridge
Posted December 11, 2019, by Mike Kerkau (mjkerkau [at] gmail [dot] com)

This was listed in Hyde's 1976 inventory but is gone by the time of the 1992 NBI, so its replacement with the street-level railroad crossing has to be somewhere between the two.