C&O Railroad Bridge
The C&O Railroad bridge is a cantilever truss bridge over the Ohio River. It was the first railroad bridge connecting Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky.[1]
C&O Railroad Bridge | |
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The C&O Railroad Bridge looking southeast from Mehring Way in Cincinnati. | |
Coordinates | |
Carries | 2 tracks of CSX Transportation Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision |
Crosses | Ohio River |
Locale | Covington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio |
Characteristics | |
Design | Cantilever bridge |
Longest span | 206 metres (676 ft) |
History | |
Opened | 1889 original, 1929 rebuilt |
Location | |
The bridge was originally built between 1886 and 1889 by a predecessor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. The bridge cost $3,348,675, an enormous sum.[2] By 1929 it was obsolete, and a replacement was built on extended piers immediately adjacent to the original structure. This new bridge was given the same name as the original and is still in use, carrying the CSX Railroad (the C&O's successor) across the river. The original bridge was sold to the Commonwealth of Kentucky and retrofitted as an automobile bridge. In 1970 that converted original bridge was pulled off its piers by two tug boats thus falling into the Ohio River below, the northern pier was extended, and the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge was built on that and the remaining preexisting piers.
See also
References
- Kenton County Public Library (August 1, 2003). Images of America: Covington, Kentucky. Arcadia Publishing. p. 23. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
- Kenny, Daniel J. (1895). Illustrated Guide to Cincinnati and the World's Columbian Exposition. R. Clarke. p. 24. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to C&O Railroad Bridge. |
- C&O Bridge, Clay Wade Bailey Bridge at Cincinnati-transit.net
- C&O Railroad Bridge at Bridges & Tunnels
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. OH-27, "Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Bridge, Spanning Ohio River, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, OH", 2 photos, 1 data page, 1 photo caption page