Railroad Bridges

[BigMattFromTexas]

There's a pretty cool looking railroad bridge in Ballinger that I'm not sure what the proper type is called. It's being worked on because here in Angelo, a Portuguese company  was approved to build a wind turbine building factory. So the entire stretch of tracks has to be replaced, including the bridge, well the bridge doesn't have to be replaced, but it has to be like re-structured, and what not. I'll try and get a picture of it sometime. Then there's a cool bridge outside of Del Rio, Tx, it goes over Amistad Reservoir, It's really long, I don't think I have a picture, but I'll take some when I go back down there. Y'all know of any cool railroad bridges?
BigMatt

[Alex]

I like any railroad bridges that include a truss, but those tend to be hard to photograph.

[Tom]

Here's a video of a nice 1 somebody posted:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AFkHIV5fdqM

[Alps]

How about combo rail/road bridges?

http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/qc/qc_112 - Pont Victoria, Montreal
http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ms/old_80 - Old Vicksburg Bridge, MS-LA
Soon to be featured: http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/la/us_90/h.html (Huey Long bridge - tentative update this coming weekend - don't click before then!)
http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ny/brooklyn - Brooklyn Bridge
http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ny/wburg - Williamsburg Bridge

[6a]

The taller sections are the original bridge.  After a particularly devastating flood, the Army Corps of Engineers widened the Scioto River in Columbus Ohio, making the extension necessary.  Why they didn't match it up is beyond me, but I rather like it the way it is.

[ghYHZ]

Here's the bridge at Bishops Falls, Newfoundland. Known locally as the "Trestle"  and once used by Canadian National Railways Narrow-Gauge Division. It's now crossed by the Newfoundland T'Railway hiking and biking trail.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

How about combo rail/road bridges?

Soon to be featured: http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/la/us_90/h.html (Huey Long bridge - tentative update this coming weekend - don't click before then!)

You mean Huey Long bridge(S) with the Huey Long bridge near Baton Rouge along US 190 as well

[Scott5114]

The Wanette-Byars Bridge is a pretty cool former railroad bridge that's since been converted to a one-lane bridge. Pretty neat.

[Truvelo]

Do you have any that are now roads?

We have several that become roads when the rail line closed such as this. This one was only a single track line so traffic lights allow only one direction of traffic on the bridge at a time.

[Alps]

Another rail/road combo, with the road on the lower level as a single lane:  Androscoggin River Railroad Bridge in Maine.

[hm insulators]

Do you have any that are now roads?

We have several that become roads when the rail line closed such as this. This one was only a single track line so traffic lights allow only one direction of traffic on the bridge at a time.

Once upon a time many years ago, the lower deck of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge was for railroads. I don't know when the rails were removed and the lower deck converted to eastbound car traffic, but probably one of our fellow road historians will have the answer.

[hm insulators]

Do you have any that are now roads?

We have several that become roads when the rail line closed such as this. This one was only a single track line so traffic lights allow only one direction of traffic on the bridge at a time.

I just thought of another one, James: A long time ago when sugar cane was king in Hawaii, the sugar companies used railroads for hauling the freshly harvested cane to the mills. One such railroad bridge crossed the mouth of the Wailua River on Kauai just makai (Hawaiian for "toward the ocean") of the Kuhio Highway (Hawaii 56) bridge. Eventually the railroads were removed and replaced with company dirt "haul cane roads" used by big trucks to haul the freshly harvested cane, and the old railroad bridge over the Wailua River became part of the cane-hauling road. (Living on Kauai from 1979 to 1986, I definitely remember all the big cane-hauling trucks crisscrossing the cane fields.) By about 1995, the sugar industry was pau (Hawaiian for "done" or "finished") and the one-time railroad/haul cane bridge became the northbound lanes for Kuhio Highway.

[mightyace]

Once upon a time many years ago, the lower deck of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge was for railroads. I don't know when the rails were removed and the lower deck converted to eastbound car traffic, but probably one of our fellow road historians will have the answer.

It was the Key System streetcar (trolley) system that extended over the lower deck of the bridge until 1958.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_System

EDIT:
Back in 2000, I saw the cars preserved at the Western Railway Museum at Rio Vista Junction, CA.

[hm insulators]

Thanks, mightyace!

[Alps]

By about 1995, the sugar industry was pau (Hawaiian for "done" or "finished") and the one-time railroad/haul cane bridge became the northbound lanes for Kuhio Highway.

As seen on my site, it's northbound lane, singular (a one lane bridge), and the other bridge is one SB lane and one reversible lane.  Pressing the old cane road bridge into service allowed the reversible peak hour lane.

[hm insulators]

By about 1995, the sugar industry was pau (Hawaiian for "done" or "finished") and the one-time railroad/haul cane bridge became the northbound lanes for Kuhio Highway.

As seen on my site, it's northbound lane, singular (a one lane bridge), and the other bridge is one SB lane and one reversible lane.  Pressing the old cane road bridge into service allowed the reversible peak hour lane.

Last time I was on this website, I had trouble finding this thread, but today, I succeeded and just had fun prowling through all your pictures of Kauai. I used to live in Koloa, so I definitely remember Sueoka's little grocery store, the chimney for the oldest sugar mill and so forth.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Hey, AlpsROADS, after reading your page on Victoria Bridge, I wanted to clarify some details about the car lanes.

There are, in fact, two separate sets of ramps for each side, ending up in the same place. This supports the theory that each side might once have been two-way, for then there would be a reason to have both the eight-foot lanes through the ramps and the entire second set of ramps at all.

From the info I have here (an old book from the MTQ), one of the two car side-lanes was installed in 1935 to serve both directions (with very tight lanes I assume), then the second one was added in 1955.

Now, both sides are reversible, and the bridge is inbound-only during weekday mornings and outbound-only during weekday evenings to accommodate commuter traffic.

The ramp duplication on the South end is to avoid traffic blockage while a boat is in the locks that go through the bridge. Only one of the two ramps is lifted up at a time, and the traffic is directed to the one that's down. This is also why the second track gets so far from the other one on that end.

[SteveG1988]

The Rancocas Creek railroad Arch Bridge was built for the riverline light rail system. It is next to the Riverside-Delanco Bridge that is a swing bridge maintained by the Burlington County Bridge Comission.



Fairly impressive little arch bridge.

Also for multi use, the Ben Franklin bridge probably wins.

Cars,Trolleys,and Subway Trains could run on it, only cars and subway trains have used it.



Original Layout, the deck between the trusses is now dedicated to automobile traffic.

[Alps]

Also for multi use, the Ben Franklin bridge probably wins.

Cars,Trolleys,and Subway Trains could run on it, only cars and subway trains have used it.



Original Layout, the deck between the trusses is now dedicated to automobile traffic.

How quaint, 9'-6" lanes and no center median.  Step up from the Schuylkill I suppose

[SteveG1988]

I think the only section of I-76 in Philly that is interstate standard, or close to it, has to be the walt whitman bridge.

[mightyace]

I wouldn't call it that.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Walt+Whitman+Bridge,+Gloucester+City,+NJ&sll=41.105953,-73.54821&sspn=0.011851,0.012596&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Walt+Whitman+Bridge,+Gloucester+City,+Camden,+New+Jersey&ll=39.906218,-75.135614&spn=0.023999,0.025191&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=39.906218,-75.135614&panoid=HysRSGXXw9YS74hOZnfUcQ&cbp=12,91.85,,0,32.6

while we could debate the movable barrier in the middle, the lack of a shoulder on the right side is definitely sub-standard.

[english si]

I rather like 1886 Blackfriars Bridge, London with it's painted steel arches. Those are old bridge supports between us on the road bridge and the rail bridge, from when there was 8(?) tracks across the Thames here. Currently they are widening it, using the old (1864-1985) supports (reinforced) and moving the station a bit to the south (and making it look a lot better than it does now - big nasty grey steel box and half-open platforms), so that instead of going halfway across the river, it goes the whole way. The old bridge side will have terminating platforms, and the terminating platforms on the other side of the bridge will be closed.

From a distance, the Hungerford bridge looks good, until you realise that the good looking bridges are separate footbridges (replacing a nasty one that was basically a metal structure bolted to the side of the rail bridge - so that it wobbled every 30 seconds when a train passed by you, and there was a nice view of the Thames through a foot-wide gap between the rail and foot bridges) and it's not that nice to look at.

If Trusses be your thing, the cantilever-trussed Forth Rail Bridge is the grandaddy of them all - it's not only rather long (nearly 8,300ft/over 2.5 km), it's also rather old (opened 1890 and in much better shape than the nearby 1960s road bridge) and busy (nearly 200 trains per day). Even if it was built today, it would be an impressive feat of engineering.

[SteveG1988]

I wouldn't call it that. while we could debate the movable barrier in the middle, the lack of a shoulder on the right side is definitely sub-standard.

Okay how about, closest the road comes to not being so substandard it is very dangerous.

I think my favorite delaware river bridge has to be the delaware memorial bridge, perfect crossing for NJ.

[brownpelican]

WVUE-TV in New Orleans did a good piece on the Huey P. Long Bridge last night. The bridge turns 75 this week.

http://www.fox8live.com/news/local/story/Heart-of-Louisiana-Huey-P-Long-Bridge-still-a/afd0ENZ-LEGck5EpUURIJg.cspx

The link includes video.

[SteveG1988]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Kill_Vertical_Lift_Bridge

The largest vertical lift bridge in the world. Newark NJ