Historic Bridges of the U.S. | Metropolis Bridge

Overview

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Photos

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Side view from west

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Side view from east

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Looking northwest

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Barge passing under

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Main span

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Close-up of main span truss

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Underneath main span

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Lower joint

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Portal bracing

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South deck truss span

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Looking southwest

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South trusses

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North truss

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Second from north truss

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North portal

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Oblique view of approach

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North end

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Approach pier

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Detail of approach pier

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Underneath approach

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Aerial photo

Photo taken by Tim Ward

Map

Vicinity map

Map links:

Facts

Overview: Six-span through truss bridge over the Ohio River on the CN Railroad at Metropolis
Status: Open to railroad traffic
History: Built 1917 under the direction of engineers C. H. Cartlidge and Ralph Modjeski
Design: From north to south:
Series of deck plate girder approach spans
One riveted, 9-panel Parker through truss (probably a later modification)
Five pin-connected, Pennsylvania through trusses
One pin-connected, 8-panel Pratt deck truss
Series of deck plate girder approach spans
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 708.0 ft.
Total length: 6,424.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude: +37.14461, -88.74204 (decimal degrees)
37°08'41" N, 88°44'31" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 16/345288/4112335 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map: Metropolis
Inventory number: BH 15525 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

December 7, 2008: New photo from Harvey Henkelmann
October 2, 2006: Posted additional photos from the river

Sources

Harvey Henkelmann - HarveyHenkelmann [at] hotmail [dot] com

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Comments

Metropolis Bridge

Posted May 17, 2007, by Randy Brush

I see five black camelback bridge and one new white camelback bridge (1950). what happen one camelback bridge was lost. Thank you.

Metropolis Bridge

Posted October 8, 2006, by Joe

I once walked across this entire bridge and took some great photographs, I got lucky because the train came after I walked back but there was some ladders off the side to get on in case of emergency, that and I had to look out for the cops. I do not recommend doing what I did.