BO - Fairmont Fink Truss (1852)
Photos
Photocopied 1972 From The New World, Or The United States And Canada, London Publishing, Library Of Congress, C. 1858. View Of Fairmont Bridge
Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record
View photos at Library of Congress
BH Photo #153882
Description
The first all-metal bridge on the [Albert] Fink plan, its detailing infulenced the development of pin-connection in American bridges. Longest iron bridge in the United States in 1852.Dennis N. Zembala for HAER
Facts
- Overview
- Lost Fink through truss bridge over Monongahela River on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
- Location
- Farimont, Marion County, West Virginia
- Status
- Destroyed in 1863 by the South; temporarily replaced by the north with a wooden bridge; replaced by the railroad to a similar plan but with slightly different casting shortly after the war.
- History
- Fink iron bridge built here 1852; Destroyed by the CSA 1863; Replaced by indentical structure 1865; Replaced 1887
- Builders
- - Albert Fink of Lauterbach, Hesse, Germany
- B&O Mount Clare Shops of Baltimore, Maryland
- Railroad
- - Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (BO)
- Design
- The first bridge was an Albert Fink designed iron bridge, the longest metal bridge in the US at the time it was built. It was destroyed by Confederate troops in 1863, rebuilt to the original design with slightly different castings in 1865 but replaced in 1887 when it was obsoleted by heavier equipment. The current modified Warren Truss was built in 1912.
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 205.0 ft.
Total length: 615.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.46659, -80.14775 (decimal degrees)
39°27'60" N, 80°08'52" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/573311/4368903 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Fairmont West
- Inventory number
- BH 43993 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- July 9, 2021: Updated by Art Suckewer: changed the name
- October 1, 2020: Updated by Art Suckewer: separated the pre and post Civil War versions.
- February 26, 2020: New photo from Art Suckewer
- February 7, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added railroad
- January 31, 2010: Added by J.R. Manning
Related Bridges
- BO - Fairmont Fink Truss (1865) (Successor)
Sources
- J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
- HAER WV-14 - Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Fairmont Bridge, Spanning Monongahela River, Fairmont vicinity, Marion County, WV
- Luke
- Art Suckewer - Asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com
Comments
I redownloaded the base TIFF and uploaded a crop of that. It should be better quality than either version.
Thanks Nathan!
I didn't think to ask, but if it isn't vaporized or too much trouble, is it the same quality as the print in the entry for the 2nd bridge? If its cleaner, can you put it up there?
Regards,
Art S.
Photo #4 Deleted.
Nathan,
Image 4 is of the post Civil War replacement - note the different tower design.
Please delete it.
Thanks,
Art S.
Can someone remove image 4? It is of the post civil war span (slightly different structure in the castings).
Mark,
The early stuff is remarkable! At least some of the images are from 1857! How confident are you in the 1863 destruction date and the 1868 replacement date? I was under the impression that the new bridge was erected in 1865 (image 4).
Note the two color paint scheme of the 1852 structure and the three color paint scheme of the replacement structure - I'd love to find a contemporary painting or reference document identifying the colors!
Regards,
Art S.
Interested in finding any pictures of this bridge when it was replaced in May 1863 with an all timber bridge after Confederate cavalry blew bridge into river on April 29, 1863. Timber bridge used until 1865 and I believe one of three spans remained timber until 1868 when finally replaced with another iron bridge.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/wv/marion/bh43993/
Nathan,
It looks really good! May I suggest setting it as the thumbnail for the listing of the 2nd Fink.
Those painted castings are extraordinary!
Regards,
Art S.