Month: March 2024

BHC Photo Pic Special Nr. 1

To celebrate the occasion of Easter, we decided to leave out Postcard Friday and try something new. We’re going to feature some of the best for the Easter break with a Guessing Quiz. Each photo will be profiled and you have a chance to guess at where they are located. The answers will come in one weeks time.

We’ll start with the first one. This was taken in 2018. Name that bridge and where is it located?

Answer to number one to come next week! 🙂

State Hwy. 225 Bridge in Lafayette, Indiana Closed

1912 bridge on Indiana State Road 225 closed awaiting repairs

The three-span Pratt through truss bridge spanning the Wabash River is the one of only a couple that carry one-lane traffic. The 1912 product of the Central States Bridge Company will remain closed until repairs can be made. Details in the article by Jim Grey.

FYI: With the exception of interviews on the topic, all information on the Baltimore Bridge Collapse will be found in sister column The Flensburg Files until further notice. They will be posted on the BHC’s social media pages.

Mystery Bridge Nr. 212: A Bridge out in the Middle of Nowhere- Next to a River!!!

Sometimes the best finds are located in your own backyard- where you at least expect it. This bridge find reminds me of one of the bridges that was discovered by fellow pontist, Luke Harden, in Washington County in south central Iowa, with its markings similar to the bridges built by George E. King:

This mystery bridge is the third one discovered since our move to Glauchau in western Saxony, five years ago. And there are a lot more questions than answers. The bridge is a steel stringer located just 50 meters from the Zwickau Mulde River, south of the pedestrian bridge, water tower and dam and north of the Glauchau Reservoir. One of the characteristics of the bridge is its wingwalls, which supports the beam span:

A close-up of the crumbling wingwall.

This bridge was discovered during our walk a few days ago, and like the bridge in Washington County, Iowa, this was found during the time where there were no leaves on the trees, making the woods look bare and the places hidden more exposed. As a bonus, the sun shed some limelight onto this structure which raised a lot of questions and theories when we discovered it for the first time. The bridge once served a waterway which was presumably one that connected the reservoir with the nearby Gründelteich Pond and Park, where another historic bridge is located. Judging by the build date of a concrete bridge that carries vehicular traffic from the main road to the reservoir on the north side, the bridge was abandoned and the channel was filled by 2014. It’s just a theory and we’re looking for the facts about this structure. What is puzzling was the fact that the bridge and road were both right next to the river, thus making them vulnerable to flooding. The Zwickau Mulde flooded its banks twice in the past two decades: 2002 and 2013- the second of which was more destructive as one in five bridges sustained extensive damage in that flood. It was the same flood that resulted in the replacement of a bridge in neighboring Wernsdorf with the present-day structure, The Wave. More puzzling was the fact that there are no buildings nearby unless they were removed. The abandoned bridge appear to be at least 70-100 years old given the rust and corrosion of the beams.

But that is all we know about this unique find. And therefore it’s over to you. What do we know about this bridge? Feel free to comment. 🙂

Feel free to check out the tour guide of Glauchau’s historic bridges, their stories and where they are located by clicking on the window below:

The Bridges of Glauchau (Saxony), Germany

Remember: Your Bridge Matters. 🙂 ❤

Ship Rams into Francis Scott Key Bridge- Baltimore Crossing Collapses

Source: Dharrah87, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Singaporese freight ship brings down 1977 continuous truss structure. Cause still under investigation. Rescue Crews at the scene

BALTIMORE, MD (USA)- State and federal officials are investigating a crash that brought down a key crossing. The incident happened at the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning, when a freight ship crashed into the pier of the continuous steel through truss span, causing the structure to collapse. Police were called to the scene at 1:35am Eastern Time (6:35am Berlin Time). The freight ship “Dali” carrying a SIngaporese flag was owned by Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and the manager is Synergy Marine Group. It was enroute to its final destination of Sri Lanka. At least seven people were reported missing in the wreck. As there was a fair amount of traffic on the bridge, it is unknown at present who was affected by the bridge collapse.

The Key Bridge was built in 1977 by multiple contractors and had a total length of 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles). The continuous truss span featuring Baltimore truss design had a length of 1200 feet (366 meters). That entire span was a total loss and one can see the collapse in a video below:

Note: The collapse occurred towards the end of the video

Its predecessor was a multiple-span drawbridge built in 1931. Originally it carried Interstate 695, a tollway- that plus the bridge are owned by the state transportation authority. It was named after Francis Scott Key, who penned the lyrics of the National Anthem of the United States, “The Star Spangled Banner” in 1814, based on the melody created by John Stafford Smith in 1773.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. The incident happened four days after a terrorist attack at a concert hall near Moscow at the start of a concert, killing at least 130 people and injuring hundreds more. Much of the concert hall was burned to the ground. The Islamic Group ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attack. Whether this incident at the Key Bridge was a terror attack or if it was caused by human error or technical malfunction remains open.

The Chronicles will continue to follow up on the developments and post the latests in its social media pages. Our thoughts and prayers to those affected by this bridge collapse. ❤

BHC Pic of the Week Nr. 283

Since the end of last year, one of the oldest bridges spanning the Zwickau Mulde River has reopened to traffic. And with that, a safer alternative for cyclists to go instead of using the road to Hartenstein, which is laden with curves, rock slide barriers and vehicles, especially trucks. The Stone Arch Bridge in Bad Schlema is the only bridge along the river with a skewed span. Built in 1859, the three-span stone arch bridge used to carry rail traffic to the nearest factories located on both sides of the river. A through truss bridge was later added in the 1970s when the bridge no longer accommodated heavier loads. The bridge sat abandoned for almost five decades before an initiative was started to restore the bridge and shift the bike trail away from the highway. The project was launched in 2017 and took six years to complete, costing over a million Euros. In October of last year, the crossing opened to cyclists and pedestrians alike. The Mulde and Ore Mountain Bike Trails now use this bridge as it passes through Aue-Schlema en route to Zwickau to the north and Carlsfeld and the Vogtland to the south and west.

I had an opportunity to visit the newly restored bridge recently and my first impression was a big WOW! The bridge provides a grand view of the mountains to the south and northeast, yet it serves as a living exhibit for the truss bridge running alongside it, as one can see it up close like in the picture above and here:

Whether or not it will remain like this remains open. Plans are in the making to remove the truss span although when that will happen remains unknown. The structure has seen better days because of the rust, yet just having it there side by side would give it a historic status as a monument that contributed to the region’s storied industrial history, not to mention a great opportunity for photos of the two structures if you are a fan of bridges, photography and history.

Whether or not the locals agree with it I don’t know. But leaving it alone as is is worth a suggestion, especially now as the restored arch bridge is back in business after decades of being out of use. 😊🚵

🌉BHC

Mystery Bridge Nr. 211

New Brunswick (NB) was once the covered bridge capital for Canada. Over 120 years ago, more than 400 covered bridges once graced its beautiful landscapes featuring many hills and forests. Today the number has dwindled down to 58, yet 54 of them are maintained by the province. The bridge is home to the Hartland Covered Bridge, a covered bridge featuring Howe trusses and at 1282 feet (391 meters), the 123-year old bridge is the longest of its kind in the world.

Age, combined with wear and tear and sometimes lack of maintenance have contributed to the sharp decline in the number of these wooden structures, yet what has contributed to the demise is the lack of information on the history of these structures. And this is where this Mystery Bridge comes in.

Jason Bennett has been doing some research on the history of this bridge and where it was located. According to some conversations, it appears that the covered bridge was located somewhere along the Black River and most likely near a schoolhouse at the town of Little Branch, judging by the scenic location. It may have carried Route 117, which has been mentioned in the conversations with fellow pontists. Yet there was another covered bridge located near a mill in Little Branch. Given the uniform design of the covered bridges in NB, it is difficult to determine the aethestics of the bridge and one has to identify the surroundings and ask neighbors and others with knowledge to confirm the exact location of the bridge. According to Bennett, there were several bridges of its kind along the Black River (including its north and south forks) yet they were demolished in the late 1960s/ early 1970s to make way for the modern crossings.

There was no further information on the build date, let alone who was the builder of the covered bridge. This leads us to the question of not only where this structure is located, but about its history. What do you know about this bridge? Feel free to post a comment here or in the fb group page Covered Bridge Experience. If there are other bridges whose information you are looking for, feel free to contact the Chronicles using the contact info enclosed via link.

Best of luck with the research and remember: Your Bridge Matters! ❤

Postcard Friday Nr. 24

While Maine has gained a notorious reputation for tearing down every single truss bridge it sees, like its neighboring state of New Hampshire, it does have some bridges that are worth seeing- and hoping that the State will leave them alone for the time being.

This bridge is one of them. The Perkins Cove Footbridge in Ogunquit is our latest Postcard Friday feature. Built in 1943, the 84-year old bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge that is made all of wood. According to Maine Memory:

The bridge at Perkins Cove in Ogunquit is a wooden double-leaf draw footbridge that was built around 1941 at a cost of $12,979 to the Ogunquit Village Corporation. When Perkins Cove was dredged in 1940 to allow for larger fishing vessels, the drawbridge was designed so that the vessels would be able to pass underneath, with a waterway width of 40 feet and a vertical clearance of 16 feet. The construction of the bridge spurred development in the nearby area as it provided access to the peninsula and its fishing community. The bridge has a two-part span, the smaller of which is cranked up and down manually. Operation of the bridge is the responsibility of the harbormaster, though it is often undertaken by local fishermen and visitors.

This postcard appears to have been produced in the 1970s or 80s as motorboats were becoming a popular watercraft for travelling at that time. One can see a person at the docks waiting to be picked up by the boater. At the same time, the bridge is in an opening position to allow a passenger boat to go underneath it.

To give you an idea how the bridge opens, here’s a link that will take you to a video, providing you with an insight on how the spans are lifted. Enjoy! 😀

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=661029745603436

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