Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[thefraze_1020]

I don't know about all states, but at least in Washington, Oregon, and California, bridges that are (or were) maintained by the state usually have some sort of inventory number posted on them. When the road is decommissioned, realigned, or abandoned altogether, many times the bridge inventory stamp or tag remains on the bridge. What are some examples near you?

I know of several examples in Washington, here are some I have photographed...

This bridge is on Mukilteo Blvd between Mukilteo and Everett. It was SSH 1I until 1964, and part of SR 526 until 1969.

20180121_142328 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

20180121_142311 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

This bridge over Pilchuck Creek is on Old 99 just on the north side of I-5's exit 210 (northwest of Arlington). It was built in 1933 and served as part of US 99, then later as the southbound lanes of I-5 until the mid-1970's.

20180121_122648 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

20180121_122659 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr


What other examples are out there?

[thefraze_1020]

For what it's worth, over the past few months I have been working on a project compiling a database of all bridges in Washington State that were built by the state at one time, and later relinquished (or "orphaned").

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZFIcUG_slpglI7fEk34wGZ5bZVufOsHq&usp=sharing

It is a work in progress...

[Max Rockatansky]

The 1941 Lanes Bridge over the San Joaquin River which is still state maintained despite no longer being part of CA 41:

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2017/10/1941-lanes-bridge-renovations-old.html

[thefraze_1020]

I'm taking a road trip around Washington State next month, and I hope to get pictures of many other relinquished bridges in the state.

Some examples include...

Fourth Plain Blvd in Vancouver (the alignment of SR 501 until 2001):
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6402952,-122.6880331,3a,15y,167.31h,66.38t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAtSfM2TntdmxJpUOM926vQ!2e0!5s20140901T000000!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6403724,-122.6861829,3a,15y,359.9h,79.19t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1snqhV4x62gX01q1bXbFgR7w!2e0!5s20140901T000000!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Redmond Way over Sammamish River (SR 908 until 2010):
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6736939,-122.1318532,3a,15y,3.87h,70.67t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sSGtDhw4mSDEqCnm63FzSLg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DSGtDhw4mSDEqCnm63FzSLg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D43.152386%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

NE 85th St/ Central Way in Kirkland (SR 908 until 1992):
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6793724,-122.1903328,3a,15y,192.66h,74.78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s22GbyPrafMkBYkFeVDfFHg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

W Meeker Street in Kent (an alignment of SR 516 until the mid 80's):
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.378387,-122.269118,3a,15y,120.1h,62.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-k3DEKQfFnAyhA-EQ_vhDg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

68th Ave S over Green River in Kent (SR 181 until 1992):
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.3756854,-122.2473078,3a,15.4y,124.55h,62.2t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sw2PDcceiua3v45TcmXHm-A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dw2PDcceiua3v45TcmXHm-A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D176.84056%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

[cjk374]

Louisiana doesn't put tags/plaques on their bridges. In fact, all bridges have an inventory number spray painted on the inside of the bridge. Since DOTD inspects all bridges, whether they maintain it or the parish maintains it, almost all bridges have an inventory  number on it somewhere.

[index]

Old US 321 High Shoals Bridge, near High Shoals, NC


https://www.google.com/maps/@35.3969551,-81.2038429,3a,60y,2.84h,89.5t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOUb1tmf0Hk4OK8hnqnt2kw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656\


Here's a plaque photo from Bridgehunter:

[KEVIN_224]

These are both affixed to the older Connecticut River Bridge between Brattleboro, VT and Chesterfield, NH. The bigger plaque is in New Hampshire. The older, smaller and barely visible marker was a couple feet from the state line on the NH side. The Seabees Memorial Bridge, which presently carries VT/NH Route 9, is a few feet north of this bridge (picture with snow is looking east from VT into NH).

[US71]

I don't have a close-up of the plaque, but the Galena Y Bridge is orphaned, but preserved.

Better photos over on Bridgehunter

Sadly, MODOT and ARDOT often remove the plaques when they abandon the bridges

[RobbieL2415]

I don't believe this sort of thing happens here.  All bridges built by ConnDOT, whether or not they were built for a state road, are property of the State. This bridge here (https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8247785,-72.50297,3a,60y,78.15h,85.55t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sU5jVcrO1rDWgnlDv1GgNDg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) is one such example.  The state built this bridge when the exit was reconfigured and a rotary where the intersection in the foreground is was eliminated.  The road is maintained by the town, hence why the bridge hasn't been resurfaced but the road has.  There is a process for the state to sell real property (including roads/bridges) back to a town but I've never seen it done.

[Alps]

Any old NJ state highway that became a county or local road after a realignment. Tons of those including just next to current alignments. One of the more interesting ones is the NJ 37 bridge on CR 539, built when the state was still planning to route 37 to Trenton.


http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/cr_539/


No other physical remnant west of 70, although the part of CR 524 at I-195 east of 206 used to be inventoried as NJ 524... also built as 37.

[US71]

I saw three close to each other north of Bartlett, TX over the weekend.  All had been bypassed and abandoned with approaches removed.

[edwaleni]

US50 in Illinois between O'Fallon and Carlyle has several orphaned bridges.

Originally planned to be I-64 in the original 1955 highway plan.  When the I-64 route was pushed south, IDOT retained funding to build US50 to interstate standards to Lake Carlyle (IL-127)

The buildout was delayed by the 1973 oil shocks and finally build out was funded in 1976.  While under construction, IL was wooing the Mitsubishi Group to build a plant in Normal IL.

Chrysler, who was Mitsubishi's platform partner wanted better access between Normal and the plant in Belvidere.

So what was left of the US50 funding was moved to seed the building of I-39 from Rockford to just over the Illinois River.

So US50 has all of these built new but never used bridges along the ROW.  Abandoned lanes and ramps exist in certain places as well.

Ever since then the local politicians have been trying to get US50 back on the 4 lane wagon with IDOT without much luck.

There was an environmental study funded in FY2015 to update the 1973 version which had expired.  It is unknown if the bridges, having sat for 40 years with no use and no maintenance are even viable.  Many believe they will eventually be torn out when IDOT has the funding to finish the road planned.

[Conn. Roads]

http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/pics/ph-i84wb-stack.jpg

This is the famous stack in Farmington, Connecticut. It was supposed to be an interchange of I84, and I291. 291 was supposed to be a belt around Hartford, but only part of it was built. About 20 years ago, CT 9 was extended, and the interchange parts of the bridge were used, and connect to I84. This was about 20 years after this elaborate interchange was built.The spans for the intended I291 main route were never used. I must give credit to Kurumi.com for the picture.

[cahwyguy]

There is always the "Bridge to Nowhere" (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_to_Nowhere_(San_Gabriel_Mountains) ), which was to have been part of a routing of what became Route 39, but never made it. I hiked there once when I was much much younger. Much younger :-)

[cl94]

Massachusetts has a metric f--ton of these. A large amount of bridges on town/city roadways were built by the state and the state continues to "maintain them" (though I suspect plowing and other daily maintenance is performed by the town/city). They generally appear as dots on MassDOT's roadway inventory jurisdiction viewer. This is different from PA, which has quadrant route "spurs" that exist solely to include a bridge, but they're still connected to the state system.

NY has several state-built bridges on local roads, but these are harder to identify, as maintenance generally reverts to the town/county once complete.

[ErmineNotyours]

Between Enumclaw and Buckley Washington, Point 317 in TheFraze's link above, is an abandoned state bridge in the woods.  The arches and general design is similar to old bridges along the US 10 corridor that were bypassed with I-90.  I approached it from the north on part of the Foothills Trail (former Northern Pacific Railway) that was petering out on the way to a missing crossing over the White River.  The railroad corridor itself used to cross over the highway, but the area between the abutments had been filled in.  I didn't see any "No trespassing" signs in the direction from the trail, but there is one from the direction of the street.  I thought that the sign could be wrong and that this could still be a public corridor, but I checked the county property site and saw that the bridge is split lengthwise between the two adjacent residential property owners.  Part of the base is becoming undermined.  I hope it doesn't disappear, because it's a beauty.

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

[RobbieL2415]

http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/pics/ph-i84wb-stack.jpg

This is the famous stack in Farmington, Connecticut. It was supposed to be an interchange of I84, and I291. 291 was supposed to be a belt around Hartford, but only part of it was built. About 20 years ago, CT 9 was extended, and the interchange parts of the bridge were used, and connect to I84. This was about 20 years after this elaborate interchange was built.The spans for the intended I291 main route were never used. I must give credit to Kurumi.com for the picture.

Personally, I'd like to see them extend CT 9 to end at CT 4.  This would not only put the stack into full service but provide a second ingress/egress for traffic coming from W. Hartford and the UCONN Health Center.

[wanderer2575]

The narrow camelback bridge on US-12 over the St. Joseph River just north of M-103 in Mottville was retained as a historic site when a new bridge was built next to it.  I don't know whether the old bridge is still under state control.

https://goo.gl/maps/AcsAoVrRN4B2

[thefraze_1020]

Between Enumclaw and Buckley Washington, Point 317 in TheFraze's link above, is an abandoned state bridge in the woods.  The arches and general design is similar to old bridges along the US 10 corridor that were bypassed with I-90.  I approached it from the north on part of the Foothills Trail (former Northern Pacific Railway) that was petering out on the way to a missing crossing over the White River.  The railroad corridor itself used to cross over the highway, but the area between the abutments had been filled in.  I didn't see any "No trespassing" signs in the direction from the trail, but there is one from the direction of the street.  I thought that the sign could be wrong and that this could still be a public corridor, but I checked the county property site and saw that the bridge is split lengthwise between the two adjacent residential property owners.  Part of the base is becoming undermined.  I hope it doesn't disappear, because it's a beauty.

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Boisie Creek Bridge, south of Enumclaw by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

Your post is awesome for two different reasons. For one, you looked through my map of bridges in Washington (thank you!), and second, I have not had a chance to visit this bridge yet in my travels. So I am really glad that you have shared pictures of it.

[Max Rockatansky]

Truth be told I'm not certain if the Division of Highways built the 1912 Basso Bridge but I know for certain it was part of CA 132 and LRN 110 when it was adopted in 1933.  The Old Basso Bridge was restored by Caltrans and converted into a pedestrian bridge over the Tuolumne River:

0 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[US71]

Groom, Texas on original US 66 alignment

[cl94]

I'd be willing to bet that the bypassed routes out west have a crapload.

[US71]

I'd be willing to bet that the bypassed routes out west have a crapload.

A few here and there survive if you know where to look.  Supposed to be several between Vega and Adrian, but I only saw one, though there were several crossings where the bridges were gone.

[kphoger]

I just took this picture on Christmas of the Swan Creek Bridge—both old and new—near Forsyth, MO.  The old arch bridge was built in 1932 and used to carry US-160 across where the creek spills out into Bull Shoals Lake.  There is still a plaque on the bridge, but unfortunately I didn't snap a photo of that.  The steel truss bridge took over US-160 when it was built 20 years later.



I cringe to wonder how long it will be until the steel truss bridge is also replaced.  Just a couple of months ago, the longer White River Bridge—less than ½ mile away—was blown up after the boring old new bridge took its place.  Every category scored "Fair" condition as of 2015, but it was replaced due to "substandard load carrying capacity or substantial bridge roadway geometry."  Considering that it was opened just one year after the one over Swan Creek, I imagine it's only a matter of time.

[sp_redelectric]

Probably not exactly what you're looking for but a variant, is Portland's Steel Bridge.  The upper deck is still leased to ODOT and is part of Oregon Highway 1W (91)/Route 99W, even though 99W has been decommissioned on either end of the bridge.  This quirk only exists because Union Pacific owns the bridge, and leases it to the State of Oregon.  But on either end of the bridge are City of Portland maintained streets.