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Ottawa Railroad Bridge

Ottawa Railroad Bridge

Primary Photographer(s): Nathan Holth

Bridge Documented: October 9, 2022

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Location
Ottawa: La Salle County, Illinois: United States
Structure Type
Metal 8 Panel Pin-Connected Pratt Through Truss, Movable: Vertical Lift (Span Drive) and Approach Spans: Metal 8 Panel Pin-Connected Pratt Through Truss, Fixed
Construction Date and Builder / Engineer
1898 By Builder/Contractor: King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio and Engineer/Design: Williams and Brown of New York, New York (1932 Lift Tower and Machinery Addition)
Rehabilitation Date
1932
Main Span Length
176.0 Feet (53.6 Meters)
Structure Length
1,033.0 Feet (314.9 Meters)
Roadway Width
Not Available
Spans
1 Main Span(s)
Inventory Number
Not Applicable

Historic Significance Rating (HSR)
View Information About HSR Ratings

Bridge Documentation

This bridge is technically HAER documented, but whoever put together the short writeup apparantly never looked at the photos. The lift span is clearly an original King Bridge Company truss span that had vertical lift towers and machinery added to it, not a new lift span. A historical article detailed the bridge more accurately. The bridge consists of four Pratt truss spans, one of which is a lift span today. There is also a 73-foot deck plate girder at the north end plus timber pile trestle approaches. American Bridge Company of New York, New York fabricated the 1932 towers, and McClintic Marshall Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania erected them. Williams & Brown of New York served as consulting engineers according to the historical article which suggests that despite its appearances Waddell and Harrington (inventors of this lift type) were not involved with the design of this particular span. Lift span weight is 454,800 pounds.

View Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Documentation For This Bridge

HAER Data Pages, PDF

View Historical Article About This Bridge

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Photo Galleries and Videos: Ottawa Railroad Bridge

 

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Maps and Links: Ottawa Railroad Bridge

Coordinates (Latitude, Longitude):

Search For Additional Bridge Listings:

Bridgehunter.com: View listed bridges within 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) of this bridge.

Bridgehunter.com: View listed bridges within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of this bridge.

HistoricBridges.org Bridge Browser: View listed bridges within 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) of this bridge.

HistoricBridges.org Bridge Browser: View listed bridges within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of this bridge.

2021 National Bridge Inventory: View listed bridges within 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) of this bridge.

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