Abandoned Wood River Bridge (South)

East Alton, Madison County, Illinois

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Name	Abandoned Wood River Bridge (South) New York Central Railroad Bridge #576
Built By	Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (Big Four)
Currently Owned By	Private Owner
Superstructure Contractor	Unknown
Length	183 Feet Total, 130 Foot Main Span
Width	1 Track
Height Above Ground	15 Feet (Estimated)
Superstructure Design	Pratt Through Truss and Through Plate Girder
Substructure Design	Stone Masonry and Concrete
Date Built	c. 1900
Traffic Count	0 Trains/Day (Bridge is Abandoned)
Current Status	Abandoned
New York Central Railroad Bridge Number	576
Significance	Moderate Significance
Documentation Date	6/18/2016

In 1856, the Terre Haute & Alton Railroad (TH&A) constructed a 174 mile railroad line, extending from Terre Haute, Indiana to Alton, Illinois. At the same time, the Belleville & Illinoistown Railroad would construct a 20 mile branch from East Alton to East St. Louis, Illinois. The two railroads would be reorganized as the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad (StLA&TH). The StLA&TH was purchased by the Cairo, Vincennes & Chicago Railway (CV&C) in 1890. The CV&C had acquired a large amount of trackage throughout Illinois, and was affiliated with the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, known as the Big Four. In 1905, the Chicago, Indianapolis & St. Louis Short Line Railroad (CI&StLSL) would construct 44 miles of new railroad, extending from Hillsboro to East St. Louis, creating a cutoff bypassing Alton. The Big Four came under the control of the New York Central Railroad (NYC) in 1906. The NYC was controlled by railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, and operated an extensive network of railroad lines in the eastern United States. Both the CV&C and the CI&StLSL were formally merged into the Big Four in 1913, and the Big Four was operated as a separate entity from the NYC until approximately 1930. This line served as a principal mainline for the Big Four, connecting St. Louis and Indianapolis. After the line officially became part of the NYC, the line continued to serve as the NYC mainline to St. Louis. The original line from Litchfield to East Alton would be abandoned in 1965.

In 1968, NYC merged with rival Pennsylvania Railroad to form Penn Central Railroad. The Penn Central Railroad was short lived, as it was plagued by operations issues stemming from the merger of the two systems. A portion of the original line from Hillsboro to Litchfield would be abandoned in 1973. The railroad filed for bankruptcy in 1974, and many of the lines were reorganized into Conrail. Conrail was formed by the Federal Government to take over profitable lines of multiple bankrupt railroad companies in the eastern United States. The segment from Pana to East St. Louis would be sold to the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in 1982, and the segment from Paris to Pana would be abandoned in 1983. In 1997, Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation agreed to purchase the bankrupt Conrail System. CSX took control of the remaining portion of the line between Terre Haute and Paris. This line would be sold to the Watco-owned Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad in 2018. Today, UP continues to operate the Pana to East St. Louis segment of this line as the Pana Subdivision, while the section between Terre Haute and Paris is operated by Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad. Small portions of the abandoned line have been converted into trails. A short segment of the line in East Alton is operated by CPKC.

Located near Illinois Route 3 in East Alton, this abandoned through truss bridge once carried the Big Four track to Alton. Little is known about the history of this bridge. It is believed that a previous bridge at this location was likely a wooden or light iron truss bridge. In approximately 1900, the present bridge was constructed. The bridge consists of a 130-foot, 6-panel, pin-connected Pratt through truss span, approached by a 50-foot through plate girder span on the east. The west abutment is stone, while the remaining substructures are constructed of concrete.

The truss span utilizes a design typical of 1890s truss spans, with a light floor, light laced members and pinned connections. The floor of this span utilizes two light stringers, set on top of the floorbeams. This floor design was typical of truss spans in the 1880s and early 1890s. This span utilizes a lightweight M-frame portal, uncommon for spans from this era. This may indicate that the truss was reused from another location and rebuilt. The girder span also appears to be relatively lightweight for the era, using light stringers and floorbeams.

This design of bridge was commonly used by railroads to cross larger waterways and other obstacles. The Pratt design was the dominant truss bridge design during the 1880s and 1890s, due to its strength, economy and durability. The bridge was abandoned in the 1970s or 1980s, as Conrail abandoned the former Big Four across Illinois. Since abandonment, the bridge has been relatively unchanged. It is now owned by a private owner, and continues to sit abandoned. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with no significant deterioration noted. The ties have been removed from the deck, and the bridge appears to now serve a utility. The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the truss design.

Citations

Railroad History Citation

ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele