BNSF/NP 1911+1928 Bridges over Duwamish River in Seattle, WA

(1911 Bridge Hunter, 1928 Bridge Hunter, 3D Satellite)

While looking at a satellite map for the BNSF/GN bridge over the Lake Washington Ship Canal, I spotted this bridge on the satellite map. And then within 24 hours I saw this posting.

Guy Prior posted the comment:

Hello fellow bridge and tunnel admirers I have just acquired the Walthers bascule bridge. Reading the blurb it stated that this model is based on the real thing crossing the Duwamish river in Seattle Washington. Apparently it is still in use by BNSF and I was wondering if anyone had a photo of a bascule bridge crossing the Duwamish they could share?🤔🤔. I want to maybe give it that look, anything will help. Cheers🤓

Nicholas Boyd commented on Guy's posting

The Bridge Hunter pages for this bridge taught me that Strauss' early designs put the lift machinery on the end of the top cord of the movable span and his later designs moved the machinery to the stationary counterweight tower. The Strauss bridge in Ashtabula, OH, is an example of an early design that never got converted to the later design. This bridge was converted in 1928. Judging from the platform still remaining at the end of the top cord of the span on the close by Salmon Bay Bridge, I presume it is another converted bridge.

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1925 Road and 1911 Railroad Bascule Bridges in Ashtabula, OH:

Road: (Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite, 79+ photos)
Railroad: (Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Flickrs: Todd, Greg; Satellite)

Josh Schmid, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)
View from northwest

Josh Schmid, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)
Partially open bridge from northwest

When I searched for Ashtabula to check out what was left of the NYC/LS&MS ore docks, Google Maps offered the following as the "signature" photo for the town.

Harish Mukundan

This looked similar to a Strauss heel-trunnion bascule bridge design, but there were enough differences that I suspected it was designed by someone else and the differences avoided patent infringement. Sure enough, Bridge Hunter indicates the "Patent Engineer/Design" is Thomas Ellis Brown. And Historic Bridges indicates it is one of the few surviving Brown type bascule bridges left in the country, and the only one in Ohio.

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(Update: The 1911 Bridge Hunter page for the Duwamish River Bridge was my source concerning Strauss' earlier design.)
The railroad bridge may have been owned by a terminal railroad that allowed NYC, NKP and Pennsy to access the ore docks. The bridge is an early Strauss heel-trunnion design. And, unlike other early designs I have seen, this 1911 bridge has not been converted to Strauss' later design. This early design has the machinery room on top of the movable span and the operating strut is fixed to the counterweight tower. By 1919, Strauss had moved the machinery room to the counterweight tower and fixed the operating strut to the movable span. Below is a closeup of the two bridges on the South Branch of the Chicago River that have the modern design. I highlighted the operating strut of the near bridge, which is closed, in red and the strut of the far bridge, which is open, in yellow. You can see that the strut comes out the back of the tower as the bridge is raised. That photo allows you to compare the modern design with the earlier design still used in this bridge.

20150513 1427, cropped plus Paint

In this earlier design, the strut moves into the span. And you can see the machinery house on top of the movable span.

Bridge Hunter plus Paint

Bridge Hunter plus Paint

Bridge Hunter plus Paint

Walter Gunter posted
N&S Drawbridge. Ashtabula harbor. N.E. Ohio.
Walter Gunter Worked as a Conrail brakeman in the mid 70s . We moved alot of coal & ore over it.Mike Shinsky I was there this summer the yard is for mostly stone now.

(Facebooked)

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BNSF/GN 1914 Bridge over Salmon Bay in Seattle, WA

(Bridge Hunter, 3D Satellite)

I copied the current satellite image since a $200m lift bridge with 155' of clearance is going to replace it. I have links to more articles about the replacement at the bottom of these notes.

3D Satellite

“As it goes up and down with a counterweight, what we found was that the trunnion bearing [on which the bridge rotates] was getting fatigued,” said BNSF spokesperson Courtney Wallace. BNSF replaced the trunnion bearings about a decade ago. About 30-40 passenger and freight trains cross the bridge each day, clearing marine traffic through the Ballard Locks. [RailwayAge]

Flickr Photo taken by C Hanchey, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)

Because the bridge is just downstream from a very active lock, there are a lot of photos of it in various angles of opening. This gives us an opportunity to study how the linkages of a Strauss heel-trunion bridge work as it moves.

Charlie Liu

The above is the exception of trying to order them from open to closed because the sun was low and we can see the floor beams.

Andrew Roszak

Page N.

Roberta Thompson

James Koski

Maria Octavio Jimenez

Ballard Locks

Robert Matthews, bridge closing

Jason Nichols

Thomas Keilty

Deb Whitford

Senthil Jegadeesan posted

Stephen Gerrish

Chaunda L

End of the line for Seattle’s Salmon Bay Railroad Bridge?  The article as several photos. Using "safety" as the excuse, it won't have a pedestrian or bike path. They could put the paths on the outside of the truss with space between the truss and the paths. That would be a lot safer than commuters standing on a station platform.

Coast Guard seeks public input on BNSF bridge project in Seattle

(FMI: a decommissioned pump display)

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CN/IC Bridges over Galena River in Galena, IL

(Swing Bridge Hunter, 1914 Heel-Trunnion Bridge Hunter, Girder Bridge Hunter, Satellite)

The fact that the Galena River used to be navigable is a reminder that Galena was an important river town back when Chicago was still mostly swampland. Looking for CN/IC in Galena also reminds me that Galena was the northern terminus of the original IC charter line and that Chicago was the terminus of a "branch."

Bob Krueger posted two photos with the comment:

I do not know if it was this group or another group based on the ICRR, but some time back someone was looking for some photos of the Illinois Central RR lift span bridge over the Galena River in Galena, Illinois. Here is a construction shot as well as a photo of the bridge which I stumbled upon on the internet and can't find it back to give any credit due. You know how that goes.... Anyway, the bridge was constructed in 1914 and was known as the Jackknife bridge, because that is the way it opened up when steamboats would pass through. Depending on who you talk to, that bridge only opened up for river use one or two times. Cost of bridge was almost $69,000. It opened on August 3, 1914 and was used until 1978, when a train derailment damaged the bridge beyond repair. If anyone knows the source of these photos, please post. I, in no way, want to take credit. Thank you. Bob Krueger

Dave Kroeger Wiped out in a derailment in 1978 iirc
Dan E. Brodigan Yes it was & Engineer was H.G. Christensen.

1

2

1947 Aerial Photo from ILHAP
The shadow shows the superstructure.

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Preserved/B&O 1956 Bridge #463 over Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH

(Bridge Hunter, Historic Bridges, 3D Satellite)

I wonder if this was the last heel-trunnion bridge ever built because it was built in 1956 when the river was widened. I noticed that Bridge Hunter and Historic Bridges disagreed on the length of the span. Then I noticed that Bridge Hunter's span length was longer than the total length. So the Historic Bridges number, 231', is the correct length.

Flickr photo by brx0, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA)

Michael Fobel posted
The old "Jackknife Bridge" now in the permanent open position over the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. I believe it belonged to the B&O railroad.

It's nice seeing a photo of a partially open bridge because it makes it easier to figure out how the linkages work.

Cleveland State University Library Photograph Collection

This shows the linkages in the closed position.

Cleveland State University Library Photograph Collection

Screenshot @ -2:08 (source: Dave Marion)

Until 1956, this location had a Scherzer Rolling bridge like Bridge #464. Below, #463 is in the foreground and #464 is to the left of the left smokestack.

Robert Pempsell posted

The rolling bridge was based on the bank opposite of the trunnion bridge.

Photo from Image courtesy of Cleveland State Library Special Collections

Brian Akers commented on Russel's posting
Here is another view of the bridge from underneath the viaduct the photographer was standing on.

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