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Shared RR & auto bridges?

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, June 30, 2014 6:38 AM

The Sarah Mildred Long Bridge over the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth NH has an upper deck for cars and a lower deck with the Former B&M Eastern Route Main Line, now just an industrial track serving the Portsmouth Shipyard in Kittery Maine.  Both decks share the center lift span which clears ocean-going ships.  On the north end of the brdge the lower deck lifts and slides back to make a normally open spot for smaller boats.

The seven span former Springfield Terminal Bridge in North Charlestown NH has been owned by the State of New Hampshire since 2002.  The wires came down in 1956, but there are still some hangers on two of the spans.  Last rail move was in 1986, but the rails are still in the bridge under the pavement.  When the bridge was owned by ST, a 15 cent toll was charged.

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Posted by Randy Stahl on Monday, June 30, 2014 6:36 AM

Wasn't the Arsenal bridge in Rock island shared at one time?

 

How bout the Wisconsin river bridge in the Dells, I think Rte. 12 used to share it with the Milwaukee road.

 

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Posted by Leo_Ames on Monday, June 30, 2014 1:03 AM

The New York Central's crossing of the St. Lawrence River from Massena NY to Cornwall Ontario was both with the deck planked over for vehicles.

http://www.nyc-ottawadivision.com/st-lawrence-bridges/

The Canadian bridge, incorporating a swing bridge, over the North Channel (Where the old St. Lawrence River canal went).

The American bridge over the South channel (Where ships now travel coming and leaving Snell Lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway).


Both were destroyed because of the flooding of this section of the St. Lawrence River and the need to open the American channel up for navigation and weren't replaced. A new dedicated highway crossing of course appeared with a impressive truss bridge over the Canadian channel built when the Canadians hoped the shipping channel would stay on that side (which was sadly recently replaced by a low level crossing devoid of any character) and a suspension bridge over the American side..

They essentially paid the NYC to abandon the crossing and it cost less than the proposed replacement that the government otherwise would've had to fund (Also discussed at that site I linked to above). Only a few remnants like the abutments survive. 

The Southernmost bridge though over the Racquette River, never used for vehicles, still remains. But sadly Alcoa East (The old Reynolds plant) is being idled with doubts if Alcoa will modernize and reopen and the GM plant was recently demolished leaving even this remnant of the Ottawa division with a questionable future. The truss bridge next to it was built for vehicle use (Sadly, closed about 6 months or so ago as America's inventory of truss bridges continues to be decimated).

The road bridge was the longest electrically welded bridge in the World when it opened.

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Posted by cx500 on Sunday, June 29, 2014 10:57 PM

There are still a handful in Canada.  Nipawin (Saskatchewan), Thunder Bay (Ontario) and the Victoria Bridge in Montreal come immediately to mind and I am sure there will be a few others.  There used to be many more, but either the road authority built a new bridge more suitable for modern traffic needs, or in some cases the railway was abandoned leaving the road in sole possession.  The most common bridge style at a shared crossing was that of a truss bridge, rather than plate girders or timber trestle.  But there were exceptions.

They came in four basic styles.  The simplest was where the road and rail shared the same deck and road traffic was halted when a train was operated.  In others, the road deck was above the rail deck, and a third was the opposite, where the rail deck was on top.  The fourth placed the road decks on the outside of trusses.

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Posted by mudchicken on Sunday, June 29, 2014 10:46 PM

Yep - as did the L&N and C&O bridges in Cincinnati.

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Posted by MidlandMike on Sunday, June 29, 2014 9:31 PM

Springfield Terminal shared a bridge (tracks in roadway) over the Connecticut River at Charlestown, NH.

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Posted by MidlandMike on Sunday, June 29, 2014 9:21 PM

There were/are some bridges across the Chicago River that carried Els on one level, and streets on the other level.  They were double deck, double leaf drawbridges:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Street_Bridge_(Chicago)

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, June 29, 2014 8:09 PM

Didn't (or doesn't) the Fort Madison bridge over the Mississippi carry both?

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Posted by CShaveRR on Sunday, June 29, 2014 8:09 PM

The bridge over the New River at Thurmond, West Virginia, was built for the C&O's old Loup Creek Subdivision, and was gateway to a whole system of mining branches, especially after the Kanawha, Glen Jean & Eastern became part of the C&O in about 1940.  The road that was cantilevered onto the side of this bridge is the only way for vehicular traffic to access Thurmond.

Between Houghton and Hancock, Michigan, at the foot of the Keewenaw Peninsula, is a lift bridge still in use for highways.  The lower deck had both road and rail (railroad long gone), and the upper deck has a highway.  It could be lifted so the lower deck only would rise and upper-deck traffic be uninterrupted. The bridge itself is fairly modern; it's probably a safe bet to say that it's been without rail service longer than it had it.

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, June 29, 2014 7:53 PM

Paul_D_North_Jr

Do bridges that carry only Light Rail Vehicles / streetcars count, too ?  Either way, the "Steel Bridge" in Portland' Oregon qualifies !  See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Bridge

"Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries road traffic (on the Pacific Highway West No. 1W, former Oregon Route 99W) and light rail (MAX), making the bridge one of the most multimodal in the world." (emphasis added - PDN)

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Give me a little time, and I will count up how many times I have crossed on the Steel Bridge, riding UP or SP trains.

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, June 29, 2014 7:51 PM

Paul of Covington

Deggesty

I know of one shared bridge--where the L&A and a street cross the Atchafalaya at Simmesport, La.

   I think I know the one you're talking about.   It's different from the others mentioned here in that the road and the tracks actually share the same space.    I found myself on it many years ago and was afraid I'd taken a wrong turn.   The tracks were in the middle of the road like streetcar tracks.    I believe the highway has since been moved to a new separate bridge.

Yes, Paul, Louisiana 1 now has its own bridge, but a street still crosses on the bridge. I noticed this use with the highway in 1966, when I rode from Shreveport to Baton Rouge by day.

There is another bridge, with the track between the two directions of US 190 at North Baton Rouge. This bridge is used by the L&A and by the Gulf Coast Lines.

Incidentally, I have been on the other two bridges mentioned by rail and by highway--and I did not think of them before making my first post.

Interesting: four (so far) in Louisiana--with one partly in Mississippi.

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Posted by wanswheel on Sunday, June 29, 2014 6:33 PM
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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Sunday, June 29, 2014 6:24 PM

Do bridges that carry only Light Rail Vehicles / streetcars count, too ?  Either way, the "Steel Bridge" in Portland' Oregon qualifies !  See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Bridge

"Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries road traffic (on the Pacific Highway West No. 1W, former Oregon Route 99W) and light rail (MAX), making the bridge one of the most multimodal in the world." (emphasis added - PDN)

- Paul North.

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by DwightBranch on Sunday, June 29, 2014 6:15 PM

The former TPW/ now Keokuk Junction bridge at Keokuk, owned by the city, had both road and train traffic until a few years ago, now the upper level is a trail I believe. KJ still uses the lower level, although they derailed on it a few years back and the city didn't want to fix it and considered tearing it out .

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Sunday, June 29, 2014 5:57 PM

Deggesty

I know of one shared bridge--where the L&A and a street cross the Atchafalaya at Simmesport, La.

   I think I know the one you're talking about.   It's different from the others mentioned here in that the road and the tracks actually share the same space.    I found myself on it many years ago and was afraid I'd taken a wrong turn.   The tracks were in the middle of the road like streetcar tracks.    I believe the highway has since been moved to a new separate bridge.

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Posted by cacole on Sunday, June 29, 2014 5:00 PM

Eads bridge, the first one built across the Mississippi river at St Louis, was initially only for railroad use, and had an automobile deck added years later.  It is still used by both. 

One other bridge across the Mississippi at St Louis also has railroad tracks below the automobile deck,  but I don't recall which one it is -- McKinley or MacArthur.

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Posted by Overmod on Sunday, June 29, 2014 4:55 PM

As a 'half' an answer -- the Hanrahan Bridge across the Mississippi at Memphis had car lanes that were taken out of service -- but are being restored as part of a bike and foot trail project.

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Posted by desertdog on Sunday, June 29, 2014 4:42 PM

The bridge over the Mississippi at Vicksburg, MS has both a railroad (KCS) and a highway deck in place. However, the latter is no longer used.

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Posted by rcdrye on Sunday, June 29, 2014 4:00 PM

The Huey P. Long bridge carries the New Orleans Public Belt (UP, KCS, BNSF, Amtrak) and six lanes of US 190 west of New Orleans.

The Victoria Bridge in Montreal, Quebec carries CN to St. Lambert, also used by Amtrak's Adirondack.

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, June 29, 2014 3:20 PM

I know of one shared bridge--where the L&A and a street cross the Atchafalaya at Simmesport, La.

Johnny

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Shared RR & auto bridges?
Posted by Boyd on Sunday, June 29, 2014 2:23 PM
I know a few exist. Does anyone know how many bridges that exist in the US that carry both trains and car/truck traffic?

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