Oak Leaf Trail - Hubbard Park Stone Arch

Photos 

The west portal

This tunnel provides access to parkland that is trapped between the old railroad berm and the river, by tunneling under the berm. There is a loop here that simply sends traffic back under the bridge/tunnel. There is a restaurant and lodge on this side of the tunnel, and a pavilion, but there is no parking here. Just a loop.

According to the Shorewood Historical Society, the tunnel was used by an ice company that harvested ice from the river.

Photo taken by J.R. Manning in July 2007

BH Photo #110980

Map 

Description 

Architectural Significance of C&NW Bridge No. 1601 

The structure is a rock-faced, coursed-ashler, sandstone bridge with 2 semicircular arches, perpendicular wing walls, and ornamental, triangular cutwaters on both faces of the central pier. Springing about 5 ft. above grade, the arches rise 7 ft. 6 inches over spans of 15 ft. Differences in stonework on the east and west elevations suggest that the bridge has been widened. The east elevation displays ring stones with a smooth, chamfered margin on the bottom edge; the keystone is elongated. In contrast, the west elevation makes no distinction between the keystone and the other ring stones, which are chamfered with a smooth margin on the intrados. The bridge's length, excluding wing walls, is about 24 ft.; its width about 97 ft. Although the bridge's width is sufficient to have accommodate multiple tracks, it now carries a single track, bordered on the east by a pedestrian walkway. [Note: The track is now gone, the right-of-way has been converted to a bike trail.]

Constructed by the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Westerrn Railway Company, the bridge embodies a standard stone-arch plan favored by many American railroads during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. There are seven similar, stone-arch highway crossings in Wisconsin built by the Chicago & North Western [sic] Railway. The Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western bridge differes from these primarily in its use of ornamental cutwaters and perpendicular (instead of flared) wing walls. These features make the design a significant, and architecturally interesting, variant of the standard, stone-arch, railroad bridge.

[Note: This document was prepared by Jeffrey A. Hess and Robert M. Frame III for the Wisconsin DOT. It is part of a project that was launched by the Wisconsin DOT in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration. It was published by the Wisconsin DOT in 1986, in a report entitled Historic Highway Bridges in Wisconsin, Volume 1, on pages 103-108.]

Facts 

Overview

Stone arch bridge over Hubbard Park Drive on Oak Leaf Bike Trail in Shorewood

Location

Shorewood, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

Status

Open to traffic

History

Built 1892, Widened 1904

Railroads

- Chicago & North Western Railway (CNW)
- Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railway (MLS&W)

Design

Stone arch

Dimensions

Span length: 42.0 ft.
Total length: 42.0 ft.

Also called

Chicago & Northwestern Railway Bridge No. 1601
CNW - Hubbard Park Stone Arch
P-40-575
C&NW Bridge #1601

Approximate latitude, longitude

+43.08325, -87.89097   (decimal degrees)
43°04'60" N, 87°53'27" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

16/427476/4770444 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Milwaukee

Inventory number

BH 34874 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Update Log 

• March 8, 2023: New photos from John Marvig
• January 14, 2023: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
• March 23, 2019: Updated by John Marvig: Added information from C&NW Bridge Records
• June 15, 2014: New photos from John Marvig
• August 17, 2009: Essay added by J.R. Manning
• April 6, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning: Added bridge to new category, Lannon Stone
• February 3, 2008: New photos from J.R. Manning

Sources 

• J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
• John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
• Geoff Hubbs

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