rail bridge question

[jim currie]

another photo from the L.O.C. its the M.O./G.M.&O./KCS/CSTX bridge oner the Black Warrior river(this section is a man made lake in the river for navigation ) between Tusaloosa & Northport ALA. what drew me to this one was the second photo it has to be a repair but why/ was it fire , rot or a derailment. the line had to be closed for some time to errect this section as it has cement piers under it . the history i found on the bridge is it was bulit in 1898 at that time it was thought to be the longest bridge in the US 3000ft, the steel section was replaced in 1924,(time frame for the repair section?) have not found a picture of the orignal spans. but my real question that i haven't found any solid anwser to is , that are the piers to the left of the bridge in the first photo the bridge from what i read it the orignal alliment of the the rr that there was a ferry service but they dont look like dock piers, any one live near there have any idea what they were for? as the rr and the dam to form locks were from around the same era .
jim

[Bob C]

Hi, Jim ! Yopur bridge is still evident on Google Maps:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s...9&t=h&z=16, and the left-most pier looks to be on the (straight) old alignment of the tracks, as witnessed by the mirror "S" curves on each side of the river. However, from the sat view - barges are moored to the ones near the south bank, (awaiting a turn through the locks?), and these piers are round, so more likely purpose-built for the navigation traffic (LOTS of those 'round Pittsburgh's 3 Rivers). The girder bridge may have been a repair, or a provisional fire-break in a loooong wooden trestle. The spacing of the legs would seem to allow the metal structure to be nearly erected without disturbing the wooden supports, perhaps allowing the transfer of "responsibility" to be completed with very little interruption of traffic, (PRR built the 2 track through truss Ohio Connecting bridge over the Ohio River AROUND the old single track span, and the deck truss and deck girder portions were constructed on cribbing and slid sideways into place to complete the change-over in about 8 hours, IIRC.) Bob C.