BHC Newsflyer: April 10, 2020

Heiligborn Viaduct in Waldheim (Saxony), Germany. Photo taken in 2018

To listen to the podcast, click onto the link: https://anchor.fm/jason-smith-bhc19/episodes/BHC-Newsflyer-10-April-2020-eclf2j

 

Headlines:

Railroad Bridge north of Basel (Switzerland) Collapses- One Dead

Information on the incident: https://www.brueckenweb.de/2content/datenbank/bruecken/3brueckenblatt.php?bas=97327

 

A10 Bridge in Tuscany Region. Photo by Frank Selke

Century Old Bridge in Italy Collapses- Minor Casualties

Article:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52213898

Bridge info:  https://www.brueckenweb.de/2content/datenbank/bruecken/3brueckenblatt.php?bas=86926

 

 

Spencerville Covered Bridge Recognized as State’s Favorite

Article:  https://www.kpcnews.com/thestar/article_90e3aec5-2039-51c9-8f97-6ff9ebf11b70.html

Bridge Information: https://bridgehunter.com/in/de-kalb/spencerville/

 

Bridge Street Bridge in Gardiner. Photo taken by Brian Bartlett

Gardiner Bridge Project Delayed Due to Corona Virus

Article: https://www.centralmaine.com/2020/04/07/gardiner-bridge-replacement-project-delayed/#

Info on the Project: https://reed-reed.com/gardiner-maine-bridges/

Bridge Info: https://bridgehunter.com/me/kennebec/bh59101/

 

Finlay Bridge in Medicine Hat (Alberta), Canada. Photo by Bryan Leitch / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Finlay Bridge in Medicine Hat (Alberta), Canada to be Rehabilitated

Article: https://chatnewstoday.ca/2020/04/06/city-planning-rehabilitation-of-finlay-bridge/

Bridge Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finlay_Bridge

 

Bothell Bridge. Photo taken by John Gateley

Bothell Wooden Truss Bridge to be Replaced

Info on Bridge Project: http://www.ci.bothell.wa.us/487/Park-at-Bothell-Landing-Pedestrian-Bridg?fbclid=IwAR1udFEhVnOu6xcG1RsNJNY_MY39J5H3TvrxCwgwSIHX6wk_QjncTI2A8lg

 

Tour Guide on the Bridges of Waldheim (Saxony), Germany

Tour Guide: The Bridges of Waldheim (Saxony), Germany

Newsflyer: 28 July, 2019

Clarendon Bridge in Arkansas. Photo taken by C. Hanchey in 2012

Author’s note: This is the first podcast since the move and features all the events that happened over the past 2-3 weeks. The most current version of Newsflyer (for the week of August 5th, 2019) will follow.

To listen to the podcast, click here.

 

Links to the News Stories:

Heat wave cripples Europe:

Summary of the heatwave

The Impact of the heatwave on the moveable bridges

 

Clarendon Cantilever Truss Bridge in Arkansas to be Demolished:

The end of the campaign to save the bridge after court ruling

Obituary of the bridge

Information on the bridge via bridgehunter.com

 

Trucker destroys historic bridge in North Dakota:

Summary of the incident

Information on the bridge via bridgehunter.com

 

Abandoned truss bridge in Arizona to be relocated to Tucson:

Information and story of the bridge

 

Historic Bridge in Lebanon County (PA) to get a lift to new home:

Article

Moving the bridge:

 

London Bridges Light Show:

Summary of the project

Videos:

 

BHC Newsflyer: 22 April, 2019

Nieblungenbrücke in its original form prior to World War II. Photo: WikiCommons

Podcast can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/jason-smith-966247957/bhc-newsflyer-22-april-2019

 

Article on the news stories in detail:

Key motorway bridge in Brazil collapses after a boat collision

Key Missouri River Crossing becomes history

Key Highway crossing in Pennsylvania to be replaced– Includes PENNDOT Bridge Marketing Profile

Nieblungen Bridge in Worms (Germany) to undergo Major makeover- main span to be replaced:Profile on the Bridge via wiki

Historic Bridge in Sonoma County, California to be replaced; trusses to be incorporated into new structure.

A 130-year old champaign bottle found in the rubble of a demolished historic bridge near Naumburg

Historic bridge in Frankfurt barely escapes a bomb in the River Main: Includes information on the Iron Bridge (not Alte Brücke as mentioned) where the bomb was found and detonated- here!

A historic bridge that survived the bombings of World War II in Hamburg to get a facelift and a new location.  Information on the Freihafenelbebrücke under the Bridges of Hamburg here.

And the second longest bowstring arch bridge in the world to be dismantled and stored until a new home is found.  Includes Facebook page on Relocating and Restoring the Kern Bridge

ALSO: Information and Petition to stop President Trump’s plan to shut down the National Register of Historic Places. Deadline is 30 April.

 

BHC Newsflyer 25 March 2019

Roehrensee [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D

Podcast of all the events can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/jason-smith-966247957/bhc-newsflyer-25-march-2019

News stories with details of some of the headlines mentioned in the podcast:

Flooding in the Midwest devastates everything in its path including historic bridges

Summary of the historic bridges lost here

Aden Road Bridge in Virginia restored and in use again

Summary of the rehabilitation here

Call for Papers and Registration for the Society for Industrial Archeology Conference in Chicago

Registration and other information here

Viaduct in Atlanta’s Gulch district coming down

Information on the bridge, its replacement project and the revitalization concept here

Two 1950s bridges in Markelsheim (Bavaria) and Vilkerath (NRW) being replaced

Key Rhine Bridge and Rail line between Karlsruhe and Saarbrücken to be reused?

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The Flensburg Files

Pittsburgh pays tribute to John F. Graham

 

Mystery Bridge Nr. 108: The Dale Bend Bridge in Arkansas

Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Department of Transportation

This 108th mystery bridge provides us with what is left of a historic bridge that should never have been destroyed. As of 30 January, 2019, this bridge is no more. During the night, a truck driver was using his GPS device which took him to this bridge: The Dale Bend Bridge.

What do we know about this bridge?

It spanned the Petit Jean River on the same road bearing the bridge’s name, approximately 12 miles north of the nearest town of Ola, in Yell County, Arkansas. The bridge was a pin-connected Pratt through truss bridge with A-frame portal bracings and V-laced vertical beams. According to the records, the 120-foot long structure was built in 1930 by the Vincennes Bridge Company in Indiana. Yet the date of 1930 seems to be a common number used to describe the bridge date, when in all reality, the structure is much older. Research has proven that pin-connected trusses, characterized by its beams being fastened by bolts, were phased out in favor of riveted or even welded truss bridges by 1915, for reasons that all state transportation departments created standardized truss designs, which were supposed to be sturdier and better able to carry increasing traffic in numbers, size and volumes. That means, truss designs with pinned connections were considered obsolete for reasons that they would no longer able to fulfilled the aforementioned standards. Yet during the 1930s, existing pinned connected truss bridges that used to serve main highways but still had some use left were relocated to secondary roads which were less traveled. There, they would serve a “second” life until they were considered obsolete and were either replaced or converted into recreational trails.

The Vincennes Bridge Company existed from 1898 until its reorganization in 1932, when the name was changed to Vincennes Steel. It continued to operate until it was folded into the Wabash Steel Corporation in 2006. The plaque on the bridge’s endpost had the following inscription: Built by the Vicennes Bridge Company, Vicennes, Ind.

Ibid.

That means between 1898 and 1915, the Dale Bend Bridge was built, originally. The question is where? And when was this truss bridge relocated to its current spot?

While we won’t know now because of the destruction of the bridge, it would be a benefit to provide a closure to the fallen structure so that a memorial plaque is constructed at the site where a new bridge will soon be built.

Photo by Trisha Holt/ Galla Rock Fire Department

Note: The Dale Bend Bridge collapsed on the night of 30 January, 2019 at around 8:00pm. A truck driver drove his semi-truck across the bridge until the trailer was lodged into the truss span itself and the structure collapsed completely. He escaped unhurt but was later cited for reckless driving and destruction of property. Both the truck and the bridge were considered a total loss. The bridge had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places for eight years prior to the tragedy.