Searching for Old Bridges in Central Illinois

Here is an old bridge in Woodford County (Ill) on 2325 E just south of 1100 N.
It is NW of Elpaso.
40,756189 89,097238

There is some nice riding in this Panther Creek area.

Thanks for sharing a photo of this bridge. This is a deck truss bridge over Panther Creek. it was built in 1925 with a total length: 92.8 ft. and a deck width: 12.1 ft. The bridge was found structurally deficient in 2005 and closed to all traffic shortly afterwards.

Nardowell, I love a tour of the Panther Creek back roads some time in the future.


Brad

A couple months back I was riding through Bureau County when I came across this old covered bridge. It is known as the RED COVERED BRIDGE over Bureau Creek on Old Dad Joe Trail in Princeton.
This is a Covered Howe through truss bridge. It was built in 1863 and rehabilitated in 1973 with a total length: 147.9 ft., a deck width: 15.4 ft. and vertical clearance above deck: 11.9 ft.

Location: N41°24'59" , W89°28'43"











Brad

Back in August I came across this bridge in northern Illinois on my way to ride the Trans-Wisconsin-Adv-Trail. This bridge is a through truss bridge over Plum River on West Point Road, 5.5 mi. northwest of Mt Carroll in Carroll county. The bridge was built in 1904 and is now closed to all traffic. It has a total length of 148.9 ft., a deck width of 11.5 ft. and a vertical clearance above deck of 13.5 ft.

Location: N42°08'48" , W90°04'26"











Brad

I have put together a gpx file containing 475+ old bridges in Illinois. You can find the file in "Layin down tracks" GPS Tracks central, or just click HERE. I also updated the first post of this thread with this info.

I hope to link a number of the more interesting old bridges with as much gravel/dirt roads as possible and post the track/route here this winter.

Brad

A very interesting thread, enjoyed looking at all the old bridges. I grew up and live only a few miles from the Lyndon bridge, a few years ago we pushed our motorcycles across. Then rode the back roads, the sign said no riding, it didn't say anything about pushing. There is an old bridge in Henry county that might be of interest to a few. It is north west of Geneseo, it crosses the Hennepin Canal. It is just off a good blacktop road, I can't think of the nane of the road. It is kind of unique as it is a draw bridge. The whole floor raises, well used to, to let barge traffic through. In very good condition, nice place to have a picnic,at the little park, there.

Here is a photo of a lost Warren pony truss bridge over Kickapoo Creek on TR 61 in Logan county. This bridge is just 10 minutes south west of where I grew up east of Atlanta, Illinois. I remember crossing this old bridge many times on my Suzuki TS125, Ossa 250 Pioneer and Suzuki DR370. I would ride out of my way just to cross the creek on this and two other iron bridges on my way to Lincoln. Many of these bridges were removed and replaced with wide low bridges to make room for the ever increasing size of modern farm machinery (the price of progress). The bridge was built in 1915 by the Decatur Bridge Company and replaced in 1983 and left crumpled in field by the new bridge builder.

Location: 40°13'18" N, 89°20'16" W



Brad

A week and a half ago (05Jan2012) I decided to take advantage of the much above normal temps for this time of year and got for a ride. I programed a few gps coords into my garminand headed west. The first old bridge i came to was this old twin stone arch on Townhall Road southwest of Hopedale. The bridge was built in 1889 and carried train traffic over a small creek and a one lane road.

Location: N40°24'12", W89°26'12"













My next stop was the find of the day. This is something I had found on google earth last year but not taken time to check it out. You can read my report on this find HERE.

Here is a sample picture of what I found..............



My last bridge for the day was about a 1/2 mile up the Mackanaw River from the movis set. This is a Pinned Pratt through truss bridge with Pinned Pratt Pony Truss Approach over the Mackinaw River on Levy Rd NW of Hopedale. The bridge was built in 1907 and has been closed to all traffic for many years. It has a Total length: 178.2 ft and Deck width: 13.5 ft.

Location: N40°28'01",W 89°26'15"

To get to this bridge you will need to ride up on this levee and around the gated fence. This im sure is private property!











Brad

UPDATE: I was out for a ride today and found an empty field where the pony truss bridge was moved to after removing it to build a modern concrete bridge. This bridge has been sitting in this field along the road for nearly 30 years! I hope the bridge was moved to a new location to be used as a creek crossing and not cut up for scrape metal!




Brad

Today JAKE BRAKE and I road up to Livingston County to search for and photograph old bridges. The first one we came to is the Scattering Piont Creek Bridge. This bridge has very recently been closed. We could still smell the creasote on the sign posts. The bridge looked structurally sound with a very good deck and frame. The concrete abutments at each end also looked to be in above average condition. Saddly tho, this bridge has been taken out of comission and the road closed.
This is a pin-connected, 4-panel, half-hip pony truss bridge over Scattering Point Creek on TR 85, 2.5 mi. southwest of Cornell. It was built in 1901 with a total length: 59.3 ft. and deck width: 13.4 ft.

Location: 40°58'02" N, 88°46'42" W











The next bridge we came to is the Short Point Creek Bridge. This bridge was also in very good shape for being closed. I have seen many bridges in much worse shape still open to traffic.
This is a Warren pony truss bridge over Short Point Creek on TR 67. The bridge was built in 1901 with a total length: 60.0 ft. and deck width: 13.7 ft. The concrete deck looked to be added at a later time.

Location: 40°59'20" N, 88°46'57" W









The road on the other side of the bridge.



As I was finishing up taking photos, an older gentleman in a pickup truck came down the road to see what we were "up to". He lived at the top of the hill and told us "many strange thing go on down here at the bridge", but did not offer to elaborate. When he realized we were there just to photograph the bridge he became much more friendly and told us about a bridge just east of where we were. I told him we had just been there and were headed to a bridge north west of here about 3.5 miles. He told us he had lived here most of his life and was not aware of anymore iron bridges in the area. Well, I knew the bridge existed because I had found it on Google Earth......so off we went.


The last bridge for the day is the Mud Creek Bridge. This is a riveted, 5-panel pony truss bridge over Mud Creek on TR 52A. This bridge was built in 1901 and is still open to traffic. It has a total length: 61.3 ft. and deck width: 12.4 ft. The deck appears to be 4 inches of concrete over the original wooden decking. I have not seen this before.

Location: 41°01'40" N, 88°46'37" W











Brad

JAKEBRAKE and I just returned from a dualsport ride in Mississippi. On our way south we spent a day in the Shawnee National Forest. We came across several interesting bridges but saddly this is the only one I have pictures of (not sure what happened to the rest). This is a pin-connected, 4-panel Pratt half-hip pony truss bridge over Bonpas Creek on gravel road TR 261, 2.25 mi. northwest of Berryvl, Illinois. The bridge was built in 1909 with an overall length of 49.8 feet and deck width of 13.4 feet.

Location: 38°36'52" N, 87°58'29" W









Brad

Nice pics!! I lived right up the hill in the village of Dewitt for 14 yrs before I moved to FLA. Thanks for the memory jog!!!

Today I made my way to Woodford county to photogragh what may the the last remaining example of the Indiana Bridge Company's patented Warren Cantilever Bedstead pony truss bridge. This bridge was built in 1925 and crosses the Panther Creek on CR2325 E in Woodford County. The bridge has a total length of 92.8 feet and width of 12.1 feet.

Location: 40°45'23" N, 89°05'50" W




















Brad

Here is whats left of the Seville Bridge, an abandoned parker through truss bridge over Spoon River on E Seville Road in Fulton county. The bridge was built in 1917 with a total length of 230 feet and deck width of 12.8 feet.

Location:40°29'10" N, 90°20'35" W





You can see the railroad bridge running along side the abandon bridge






The rail road bridge is a pratt through truss bridge over Spoon River on Peoria & Western Railway and has been in service since 1890.






The abandon bridge as seen from the railroad bridge.



Brad

From here I went in search of the Tarters Ferry Bridge. This is an abandoned pin-connected Parker through truss bridge over the Spoon River on Tarters Ferry Lane. The bridge was built in 1880 and abandoned in 1992, with a total length of 182 feet and deck width of 18 feet.

Location: 40°26'46" N, 90°21'02" W

The approach to this bridge is blocked by private property on both sides now. Here is a video clip (click on pic) of me trying to get to the bridge, but beibg turned around by a NO TRESSPASSING sign. At the start of the video my gps says the bridge is 9/10th of a mile down this dirt lane. After 3/10th of a mile I run into the no tresspassing sign.




The bridge does still exist.....here is a satilite view, from google earth:





Brad

Here is the Otto Road Bridge, a pony truss bridge over Otter Creek on Otto Road (TR 292) in Fulton county. This is an open to traffic pony truss, with a total length of 71.8 ft and a deck width of 15.7 feet.

Location:40°17'56" N, 90°12'27" W











Brad




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Last Friday JAKEBRAKE and I road to Macoupin county in hopes of photographing 15 old bridges in the area. We found 13 of the bridges still intact and were suprised to find 2 others I knew nothing about.
One of the first things we noticed about Macoupin county is that there seems to be very little done in the way of road maintainance. Very poor tar/chip, gravel/dirt, some grass roads/trails and a nice water crossing. Another observation is that the county does seem to keep its old bridges in servicable condition.


Here is an over view of the placement of the bridges in Google earth. This does not include the to bridges I did not know existed.




The first bridge we came across is one of the bridges I was not aware of, so I know very little about it other than its location and desgin.

Location: N39 24.752 W89 45.926











Brad

The next bridge we came to was the Shearless Creek bridge, an open pony truss bridge over Shearless Creek on TR 119, 2 mi. east of Nilwood. The bridge is 41 feet in length with a 14.1 foot deck width.

Location:39°24'22" N, 89°45'33" W








Brad

Next up is the first of several bridges over the Macoupin Creek. This one I have designated as Macoupin Creek3. It is an open pony truss bridge over a branch of the Macoupin Creek on TR 273, 3 mi. southeast of Chesterfield. This bridge has a total length of 36 feet and over all deck width of 11.8 feet.

Location:39°13'03" N, 90°01'19" W








Brad