This bridge was built in the 1890s by the street railway company of Wheeling, W.Va.; it spanned the "back channel" between Wheeling Island and the town of Bridgeport, Oh. It has been out of service for many years (its replacement was caused partially by inadequate maintenance--note that it had a Bailey temporary truss inside the bridge itself), but I would have had hopes that its ornate design would have made it a candidate for preservation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DC99GJ4SrQ

I guess it was too much to hope for.

The late W. J. B. Gwynn, a noted railroad and trolley photographer and historian in the Wheeling area, was a motorman on the street railway that ran across this bridge; he would have crossed it countless times as a motorman back in the day.

I'd say they screwed up, placed the charges on the wrong bridge...

Details on the bridge (I just added the video):

http://bridgehunter.com/oh/belmont/bridgeport/

also,
http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/co ... ml?nav=515

I always enjoyed looking over from the westbound lanes of I-70 and seeing this lovely bridge. I had hoped it had been retained for pedestrian use. This past weekend I looked and did not see it. I hoped, as it was dark, I just could not make it out. Very sad. From some of the comments on the Youtube video there were those who did not like the bridge. I guess that is a commentary on the value our society places on its historic heritage.

Sad to see. The almighty buck triumphs over history once again!

Later!
Mr. Ed

I went over quite a few "bridge blogs" regarding this bridge.

If this had been a steam locomotive proposed for operation, it would have had a cracked axle, a smokebox rusted clean through, and either a buckled crown sheet or a boiler top rusted to paper thinness. If it were a display loco, it would have been missing a tender, a dome, and/or a smokestack I saw some horribly scary photos of main member and deck beam deterioration.

I want to see old bridges preserved as much as I want to see old railroad things preserved, but the "you can't save 'em all" adage applies here pretty well.

Yes, it might have been beyond salvation. But it is still a sin that government allowed it to get to that state in the first place. Then they "come to the rescue" with a replacement at great taxpayer cost and expect (and often receive) accolades when the original problem was in fact due to their own negligence.

I've seen a lot of truss bridges that local governments have neglected to death. In many cases if the trusses were adjusted as they were designed to be on a regular basis and a paint job once a decade they would last indefinitely. Instead they expect these bridges to be zero maintenance like the newer girder bridges and continually de-rate them as they deteriorate.

I see the same thing in the general populace who does not even know how to check their own oil. They use things without maintenance until they break and go buy a new one. But alas, that is the society we live in. Newer is always better.

Sorry, I guess I'm venting.

Utterly disgraceful, everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves. To those who say we cannot save everything, look at the Justice dept spending reports and then tell me we couldnt save this structure.

Its all wrong


Mike Pannell

Other bridges scheduled for demolition in the near future in the Wheeling area (not all are rail connected):

Bellaire Bridge, a privately owned toll bridge, also out of service; this bridge is in sight of the former Baltimore & Ohio black steel bridge between Benwood and Bellaire, and which was featured fairly prominently in the recent film "Unstoppable:"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellaire_Bridge

http://bridgestunnels.com/bridges/ohio- ... ll-bridge/

http://www.historicbridges.org/ohio/bellaire/index.htm

http://www.forgottenoh.com/Bridges/bellairetoll.html

There is another bridge from the island in the Ohio across the "back channel," the Aetnaville Bridge. Like the other one that was recently demolished, this also carried trolley tracks; indeed, the last time I was in Wheeling to see this, the tracks were becoming visible through the deteriorating asphalt on the bridge approaches. This bridge is north of the Bridgeport bridge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aetnaville_Bridge

http://www.forgottenoh.com/Bridges/aetnaville.html

This and other bridges on an image search:

http://www.google.com/search?gcx=w&q=ae ... 05&bih=627

I'm from Wheeling originally, and what I would say about the mismanagement of the city and county, and of similar shenanigans on the other side of the Ohio, would get me banned--and despite the beliefs of some posters here, I don't blame liberal attitudes at all in this case. Rather, it is the pursuit of the dollar above all else--but look where it has gotten us?

How did my country, which was forged in the fire of the Depression, which won WW II, which lead the world so well for so long that a former president described it as "a shining city on a hill," turn out to become so dumb? How did this same country, which dealt with rubber shortages by turning to trains in WW II, turn out to be so wimpy in dealing with the oil problem today, and fights against trains, both modern and old (see the experience of the Adirondackers)?

Enough of ranting for today. . .

Another bridge in the Wheeling area that is now long gone; was used by both the Pennsylvania Railroad and the original Wheeling & Lake Erie in the past:

http://www.cardcow.com/images/set51/card00689_fr.jpg

http://wheeling.weirton.lib.wv.us/histo ... bridge.htm

http://historic-wheeling.wikispaces.com ... way+Bridge

http://www.bridgepix.com/listing_detail ... ngID=12538

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34878756@N ... otostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34878756@N04/5814359137/

http://www.timesleaderonline.com/?page= ... g&cutline=

http://www.timesleaderonline.com/page/c ... l?nav=5101

http://www.timesleaderonline.com/page/c ... en---.html

Man, does this make me depressed.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know the specifics of the Wheeling-area examples, but in doing a little bridge background checking up on them (it helps a bit that I've been mildly in bridge preservation and history as long as I've been in rail preservation and history), I found a common theme: It appears the Coast Guard and/or Army Corps of Engineers is involved in the demolition or planned demolition of these bridges, on the basis of a potential threat to a navigable waterway (the Ohio River). Aetnaville Bridge doesn't seem to cross any navigable waterway, so I can't find any concrete (ha-ha) proposals for its demolition, aside from lots of comments on the YouTube video and/or newspaper article that it "should be next!"

I don't care for the unnecessary demolition of any architecturally or historically significant bridge, either. But these aren't the PRR's stone arch bridges seemingly built to last a thousand years. These spans were built with life expectancies and routine maintenance in mind. You try telling the locals that a bridge that no longer meets even the most generous weight and safety standards or exemptions deserves six or seven figures' worth of local taxpayer money just to paint safely, let alone brace and shore up, and see how many you convince that it's a big enough tourist draw to justify that. I'm very pleased that local governments take the steps they do to preserve covered bridges and the occasional iron or early steel bridge, but realistically we can only ask so much.

The scenario we had with the Kinzua Viaduct being blown down halfway through restoration efforts will no doubt show up again, and the odds are about 50-50 it'll be a railroad bridge.