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Railroad bridges converted into road bridges

Started by US 89, January 02, 2018, 07:22:29 PM

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US 89

Such as this one, which carries UT-68 over US-89 (500 West) in Woods Cross, Utah. It was built in 1931 and carried the Bamberger Railroad over US 89/91 until 1961, when the railroad was removed and the railroad bridge was converted to a road bridge.

Is this a common thing? To my knowledge that's the only example in Utah.


oscar

#1
Among the most famous ones are railroad bridges through the Florida Keys. The rail line was abandoned after severe hurricane damage in 1935. Some of the bridges were turned into highway bridges, carrying the then-US 1 to Key West. The most spectacular one is the old Bahia Honda bridge, which was a through truss too narrow to carry two lanes of auto traffic, so the solution was to build a new road bridge atop the old trusses, a rather scary-looking arrangement. That old bridge was later closed, but is visible from the parallel new bridge that now carries US 1. I don't know if any of the other old bridges converted for highway use remain in use for US 1.

At the opposite corner of the country, and still in highway use, is the Kuskulana River bridge, carrying the mostly gravel McCarthy Road between Chitina and McCarthy almost 240 feet above the Copper River. It was originally a one-track rail bridge, on a rail line carrying copper one from the Kennecott mine to the harbor in Cordova. After the mine was depleted, the bridge on the abandoned rail line was converted to a one-lane road bridge. Reportedly the road bridge was much more "exciting" until guardrails were added, before I drove the bridge in 1994.



Farther south on the old rail line is the "Million Dollar Bridge" east of Cordova, which also crosses the Copper River and was also converted to highway use.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

index

The Wabash Cannonball Bridge on the IL/IN border:

It was converted to road sometime in the mid 1960s-70s. Built in 1906.

https://goo.gl/qdW2BY

The Wanette-Byars Bridge in OK:

Also built in 1906. I believe it is the longest of its type in the state. In 1993 the original wood deck was destroyed in a successful arson attempt.

https://goo.gl/qUZKt5

I love my 2010 Ford Explorer.



Counties traveled

Max Rockatansky

The Old Bahia Honda and Seven Mile Bridge (among many FECR bridges) are good examples:

IMG_0302 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

10200213192045084 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

I always found it amusing how the road deck on the Old Bahia Bridge was just slapped on top of a rail truss.

cjk374

My railroad, the Louisiana & North West RR, used to run as far south as Natchitoches, LA. They had a bridge over the Red River just north of Natchitoches. When the line was abandoned, that bridge was converted to carry LA 6 over the Red. The old railroad bridge was replaced by the current LA 6 bridge and torn down.
Runnin' roads and polishin' rails.

lepidopteran

It has recently been reconstructed, but at Ohio State University, the Woody Hayes Drive bridge over Olentangy River Rd. and its adjacent namesake waterway was originally used for a rail spur between main campus and a nearby C&O mainline.  The spur was mostly used for coal deliveries to the power plant, but I think historically it helped bring in building material for the stadium, and possibly the main library as well.  An old photograph suggested that the rail line ran in the road's median for at least part of the way (on the agricultural campus), though I'm not sure if the bridge was shared between road and rail use.  In any event, the last sections of track were removed from campus in 1970.

jay8g

Keene Rd in Kennewick used to have a rail line running along it. When it was widened a few years ago, the old rail overpass across I-182 was widened and reused to carry one carriageway of the road.


texaskdog

Quote from: roadguy2 on January 02, 2018, 07:22:29 PM
Such as this one, which carries UT-68 over US-89 (500 West) in Woods Cross, Utah. It was built in 1931 and carried the Bamberger Railroad over US 89/91 until 1961, when the railroad was removed and the bridge was converted to a road.

Is this a common thing? To my knowledge that's the only example in Utah.

I don't see these two roads even touching

triplemultiplex

#9
Quote from: texaskdog on January 08, 2018, 07:42:13 AM
Quote from: roadguy2 on January 02, 2018, 07:22:29 PM
Such as this one, which carries UT-68 over US-89 (500 West) in Woods Cross, Utah. It was built in 1931 and carried the Bamberger Railroad over US 89/91 until 1961, when the railroad was removed and the bridge was converted to a road.

Is this a common thing? To my knowledge that's the only example in Utah.

I don't see these two roads even touching

After being a north-south route for most of its length, UT 68 suddenly turns east when it runs out of real estate up by Legacy Parkway into Woods Cross then turns south and ends at a half interchange with US 89.

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=40.86985,-111.89181&z=15&t=M

Google Maps being Googly, they erroneously stop marking UT 68 at I-15.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

Hot Rod Hootenanny

#10
Quote from: lepidopteran on January 06, 2018, 11:57:02 PM
It has recently been reconstructed, but at Ohio State University, the Woody Hayes Drive bridge over Olentangy River Rd. and its adjacent namesake waterway was originally used for a rail spur between main campus and a nearby C&O mainline.  The spur was mostly used for coal deliveries to the power plant, but I think historically it helped bring in building material for the stadium, and possibly the main library as well.  An old photograph suggested that the rail line ran in the road's median for at least part of the way (on the agricultural campus), though I'm not sure if the bridge was shared between road and rail use.  In any event, the last sections of track were removed from campus in 1970.

Another one here in Columbus is US 23, north of I-270.

Original train trestle (for the Columbus, Delaware & Marion interurban)


Looking north (from near Flint Rd) at the train trestle on the left, while US 23 (used to) go slightly into the ravine on the left.

Please, don't sue Alex & Andy over what I wrote above

US 89

Quote from: triplemultiplex on January 08, 2018, 09:02:35 AM
Quote from: texaskdog on January 08, 2018, 07:42:13 AM
Quote from: roadguy2 on January 02, 2018, 07:22:29 PM
Such as this one, which carries UT-68 over US-89 (500 West) in Woods Cross, Utah. It was built in 1931 and carried the Bamberger Railroad over US 89/91 until 1961, when the railroad was removed and the bridge was converted to a road.

Is this a common thing? To my knowledge that's the only example in Utah.

I don't see these two roads even touching

After being a north-south route for most of its length, UT 68 suddenly turns east when it runs out of real estate up by Legacy Parkway into Woods Cross then turns south and ends at a half interchange with US 89.

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=40.86985,-111.89181&z=15&t=M

Google Maps being Googly, they erroneously stop marking UT 68 at I-15.

Yep. It used to be that 68 went east from Redwood and ended at 200 West (where it turns back south today), which was UT 106, and that half-interchange was the south end of 106. 106 went north on 200 West to 400 North, where it turned east onto its current route. UT 131 went west on 400 North from UT 106 to I-15.
However, in 2001 the city of Bountiful requested that UDOT give up 200 West between 400 North and 500 South, so 106 was routed west to I-15 to absorb UT 131, and 68 was extended south on its current route.

cjk374

Runnin' roads and polishin' rails.

Jardine

Entire thread on a bridge converted from pedestrian/horse carriage/single track railroad to 4 lane hiway bridge.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=17907.0

bugo


GaryV

The Houghton-Hancock  Lift Bridge (US-41 and M-26) in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.

The bridge has 2 levels.  The lower level used to have railroad rails, but the trains no longer go there.  At the approaches to the bridge, tracks curve from under the roadway approaches.

Now in summer, the bridge is partially raised so the lower level of the bridge meets the road approaches.  Then they don't have to raise the bridge for most pleasure craft.

In the winter, the bridge is in the fully lowered position, and snowmobile trails use the lower level while cars and trucks use the upper level.

roadman65

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 03, 2018, 11:46:56 PM
The Old Bahia Honda and Seven Mile Bridge (among many FECR bridges) are good examples:

IMG_0302 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

10200213192045084 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

I always found it amusing how the road deck on the Old Bahia Bridge was just slapped on top of a rail truss.
One of the bridges near Layton also was a concrete arch bridge later added US 1 to it.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Jardine

#17
Rail is rail, so a couple lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge were converted. Sand Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge too.





roadman65

Quote from: Jardine on March 20, 2018, 06:05:24 PM
Rail is rail, so a couple lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge were converted. Sand Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge too.





Nice photos!
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

skluth

The McKinley Bridge connecting St Louis with Venice, IL, once had a commuter rail line running down the middle of the bridge with road traffic being limited to the outside of the bridge superstructure. You can see an image about halfway down this page. https://ceramembersblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/along-the-illinois-terminal-railroad-part-2/ Look for the caption: View looking east showing IT car 457 eastbound on the west side of the McKinley Bridge in St. Louis, taken on November 13, 1954.

The tracks were paved over when I moved to St Louis in 1987 with traffic going over both the middle and on each side. It was scary with potholes that went through the roadbed open to the Mississippi River below. Today auto traffic goes through the middle only with pedestrian and bicycle traffic on the outside.

I used to make maps for the DoD. We'd frequently come across imagery where a road and rail line shared the same bridge, often with the rail tracks running down the middle of the road like a streetcar. It was common in Eastern Europe and the old USSR; we had a special bridge attribute for it as we digitized the features. (It's been a while, but I believe the options for bridge type were road, rail, road/rail, pedestrian, and other.)

Bitmapped

In Grafton, WV, the B&O converted an old rail bridge over Three Fork Creek to an access road for its yard. https://goo.gl/maps/F1RvY3VN9132 The bridge was built for the former Cowen Subdivision, which originally followed the Tygart Valley River south from here. When Tygart Lake was built in the 1930s, the rail line was relocated. I believe the bridge was converted soon after that.

rte66man

The Carpenters Bluff bridge over the Red River east of Denison, Texas. Until it was replaced earlier this year, it was originally built for the railroad with a wooden roadway attached to the side (sort of like the Harahan at Memphis). When the RR was abandoned (IIRC in the 60's), the rr deck was converted to a one lane roadway and the attached road deck was closed to all but Bikes and pedestrians.  I have some photos that I will try to get posted.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7565327,-96.4133708,798m/data=!3m1!1e3
When you come to a fork in the road... TAKE IT.

                                                               -Yogi Berra

oscar

#22
Quote from: oscar on January 02, 2018, 07:53:13 PM
Farther south on the old rail line is the "Million Dollar Bridge" east of Cordova, which also crosses the Copper River and was also converted to highway use.

I later updated my Million Dollar Bridge photo collection, at http://www.alaskaroads.com/photos-Million-Dollar-Bridge.htm No trace of the old rail line, which ceased operations in 1938, in that area other than the bridge.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

Conn. Roads

Although not a highway bridge, the former CNE/New Haven Poughkeepsie Bridge is now a walkway over the Hudson.

Stephane Dumas

The Alexandria bridge, formely known as Interprovincial bridge between Ottawa and Hull(Gatineau), used to have a railroad track in the middle used until the mid-1960s. There's a photo at
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5156036-Vintage-photos-Awesome!&s=f91bbe12186f3a8df4a7b7b68ec8145c&p=84502252&viewfull=1#post84502252

As well as a short cameo in the short movie The Railroader with Buster Keaton.
https://youtu.be/EiqqxyZeDXo?t=8m58s




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