Greetings to my bridgehunters and followers of the Chronicles,
For those travelling to Germany in the near future and in particular, Saxony, here’s a guide on what you need to know about the state which is comparable to California in terms of its inventions and innovations. More unique are the bridges that are located there. You will find them in the third sectio of the quiz. Without further ado, have a look at the Guessing Quiz on Saxony, courtesy of the sister column, The Flensburg Files. 🙂 Good luck! 😀
Gospel Street Bridge in Paoli, Indiana. Photo taken by James Baughn
Trucker to serve six months for driving overweight truck across the Gospel Street Bridge. Bridge being rebuilt.
INDIANAPOLIS- Sometimes the price to pay for ignorance can be the most painful. When a person misses a turn-off and tries a short cut, it turns out to be the longest odessy of her life. For Mary Lambright, the trucker who drove across the historic Gospel Street Bridge in a semi-truck laden with bottled water on Christmas Day 2015, dropping the structure built by the Cleveland Bridge and Iron Company in 1880 into Lick Creek, that short cut she took will cost her time and then some.
According to multiple resources, Indiana District Judge R. Michael Cloud sentenced Ms. Lambright to six months in prison. In addition, she is to pay $2000 in damages to the structure, to be paid once the bridge is rebuilt. Ms. Lambright, 24, and a 17-year old passenger missed a turn-off enroute to Wal-mart and took a short-cut that led to the bridge on Christmas Day. Not knowing what six tons meant on the sign, she continued to cross the bridge at 30 mph, resulting in the top trailer being sheered off by the bridge’s overhead bracings and the bridge collapsing into the creek. Neither of the two were injured. The trucking company, based in Louisville, later went out of business because of liability claims involving the bridge but not before having fired Lambright right after the incident. Ms. Lambright apoligized to the court at the time of the sentencing, stating: “I’m really, really sorry about what happened and, if I could go back and do it over again, I wouldn’t be so stupid.”
The Gospel Street Bridge is currently being rebuilt, piece-by-piece, to its original form, using the money provided by the insurance company that had once protected the trucking company she used to work for. The bridge is expected to be completely rebuilt and open to traffic by the beginning of July. With the sentencing handed down and the eventual return of the historic bridge to a small Indiana community, it will provide a closure to an incident that has been a focus of discussion about how to better train semi-truck drivers (how to avoid restricted areas and drive safely and responsibly), especially as the Gospel Street Bridge had served as the key artery into the business district. For those who have close ties to the bridge, they will be the lucky ones as they will win their historic bridge back- something that seldom happens to historic bridges in the US in this use-damage-throw away age of travel and consumption.
Author’s Note: What do you know about the Cleveland Bridge and Iron Company in terms of its years in business, its founder and examples of other bridges built? The Chronicles is putting together a bridge builders directory that will contain a summary of the history of the companies and engineers who contributed to almost 200 years of bridge building in the US, Canada, Europe and elsewhere. If you have any information about this company, please contact Jason Smith at flensburg.bridgehunter.av@googlemail.com. A link will also suffice. You can find this directory on its wordpress page by clicking here.
Our 81st mystery bridge takes us back to Iowa, but only barely, and a bridge that literally missed the record books. This bridge- or what’s left of it- spans the Nodaway River at 294th/295th Lane, a half mile east of US Hwy. 71 between Braddyville and Shambaugh, 2.5 miles north of the Missouri border. Only the easternmost span of a major structure remains and judging by its appearance, the through truss bridge built using a simple Pratt through truss design was part of a multiple-span through truss structure that had once existed. Looking more closely at the structure via Googlemap, the portal bracing appears to have a curved heal bracing with some ornamental features, thus putting the construction date back to pre-1885 for letter-framed common portal bracings started to make its way to the American landscapes, including its most popular A-frame portals. The bridge appears to have been abandoned for over a half decade and up to now, has missed every possible bridge survey conducted by the state and other engineering groups. Even the late James Hippen could not get to the structure as the roads to the bridge have since been made inaccessible except by foot and most likely through a permit by the landowners on both sides of the river. The possibility of accessing the remains by boat are also limited because of the shallowness of the river and the vegetation that has overgrown on the bridge.
Judging by the observations, one can conclude that the bridge was built before 1885, was either destroyed by flooding or partially removed more than 50 years ago and has been abandoned ever since with just the skeletal remains that can be seen from the air. However, how can we round out the history of this structure which has long since had its place on the east bank of the Nodaway?
Check out the map, check out the bridge itself, and check out the museum and library, plsu other sources and check us out at the Chronicles with some facts that you have on this bridge.
A few days ago, I took advantage of nice weather here in Germany and embarked on a what I’ve touted as an Ironman bike tour through western Saxony. Starting at Hohenstein-Ernstthal, the tour lasted seven hours, going to Glauchau, then along the Mulde to Rochlitz, encountering steep hills with grades of up to 20% and heights of up to 400 meters. Then it was to Geithain before boarding the train for Glauchau before having biked the last seven kilometers to neighboring Meerane. All in all, 85 kilometers by bike and every bridge visited was worth every drop of sweat.
While I will mention more about the tour in a later article, I have a found a net of bridges worth posting. This is located in Penig, about 23 kilometers northeast of Glauchau along the Mulde. We have two major highways crossing over each other while crossing the Mulde, yet there are more crossings in this area than those two. Before giving the way the answer, here’s my guessing quiz question for you:
Look carefully in the picture. How many bridges at this site can you identify and can you find out how old they are? This includes the tunnel.
For the number, here are the options:
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 d. 5 e. 6 f. 7
A map with the location of the bridges is enclosed here:
The answers will be provided when the article about bridge touring along rivers will be posted in a few weeks. This will include the tour of the Mulde plus a couple river examples. Stay tuned! 🙂
A few days ago, I took advantage of nice weather here in Germany and embarked on a what I’ve touted as an Ironman bike tour through western Saxony. Starting at Hohenstein-Ernstthal, the tour lasted seven hours, going to Glauchau, then along the Mulde to Rochlitz, encountering steep hills with grades of up to 20% and heights of up to 400 meters. Then it was to Geithain before boarding the train for Glauchau before having biked the last seven kilometers to neighboring Meerane. All in all, 85 kilometers by bike and every bridge visited was worth every drop of sweat.
While I will mention more about the tour in a later article, I have a found a net of bridges worth posting. This is located in Penig, about 23 kilometers northeast of Glauchau along the Mulde. We have two major highways crossing over each other while crossing the Mulde, yet there are more crossings in this area than those two. Before giving the way the answer, here’s my guessing quiz question for you:
Look carefully in the picture. How many bridges at this site can you identify and can you find out how old they are? This includes the tunnel.
For the number, here are the options:
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 d. 5 e. 6 f. 7
A map with the location of the bridges is enclosed here:
The answers will be provided when the article about bridge touring along rivers will be posted in a few weeks. This will include the tour of the Mulde plus a couple river examples. Stay tuned! 🙂
This is a blog about my project of visiting every bridge over the Genesee River and what I learned about the history, structure, and natural surroundings of each bridge.
The Bridgehunter's Chronicles 