The Fourteenth Street Bridge, also known as the Ohio Falls Bridge, Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge, Conrail Railroad Bridge or Louisville and Indiana (L&I) Bridge, is a

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

that spans the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

, between

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

and

Clarksville, Indiana Clarksville is a town in Clark County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River and is a part of the Louisville Metropolitan area. The population was 22,333 at the 2020 census. The town was founded in 1783 by early resident George Rogers Cla ...

. Built by the Louisville Bridge Company and completed in 1870, the bridge was operated for many years by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, giving the company its only access to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Ownership of the railroad and the bridge passed on to

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...

and later

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

, which then sold the line from Louisville to

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

to the

Louisville and Indiana Railroad The Louisville and Indiana Railroad is a Class III railroad that operates freight service between Indianapolis, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky, with a major yard and maintenance shop in Jeffersonville, Indiana. It is owned by Anacostia Rail Ho ...

, the current bridge owner. The draw portion of the bridge is a vertical-lift span, built in about 1918 in place of a

swing span A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

. The towers and machinery of the lift span were designed by

Waddell Waddell may refer to: Places * Waddell, Arizona ** New Waddell Dam, on the Agua Fria River * Waddell Barnes Botanical Gardens, Macon, Georgia * Waddell Creek, a stream in California * E. E. Waddell Language Academy, Charlotte, North Carolina * ...

and Son, Inc., and there is a plaque on the SW tower reading, "Waddell Vertical Lift Bridge, Waddell and Son, 1917". The draw span is across the upstream end of the Louisville and Portland Canal, which includes the McAlpine Locks and Dam. Ohio River traffic passes through this canal to navigate past the Falls of the Ohio.

History

There were attempts to build a bridge to link Louisville to the Indiana shore as early as the 1830s. James Guthrie, as the head of the Ohio Bridge Company, attempted to build such a bridge in 1829. An architect from

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, Ithiel Town, was to build a wooden structure. A cornerstone was laid for the bridge in 1836 by Twelfth Street in Louisville, but the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...

stopped further construction. This failure, plus the unsuccessful attempt to woo the capital of Kentucky to Louisville, would become known as "Guthrie's Folly". An additional attempt was made in the 1850s, but that too would be stymied due to financing difficulties. By the 1860s, the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

and the

Jeffersonville and Indianapolis Railroad Jeffersonville is the name of several places in the United States: *Jeffersonville, Georgia *Jeffersonville, Illinois * Jeffersonville, Indiana *Jeffersonville, Kentucky *Jeffersonville, New York *Jeffersonville, Ohio *Jeffersonville, Vermont Jeff ...

both desired a railroad bridge across the river. The

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

approved the building of such a bridge on February 17, 1865, stating that it must not interfere with river traffic. As there were no bridges across the Ohio River at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

or any place west, including Louisville, crossing the river during the winter months during the war years stressed the need for such a bridge. The L&N financed the Louisville Bridge Company to begin building such a bridge, with the work beginning on August 1, 1867.

Albert Fink Albert Fink (October 27, 1827 – April 3, 1897) was a German-born civil engineer who worked in the United States. He is best known for his railroad bridge designs, which helped revolutionize the use of iron for American railroad bridge constructio ...

was the architect, who used his Fink truss design for the project. Stone for the bridge's piers came from

Bardstown Junction, Kentucky Bardstown Junction is an unincorporated community in Bullitt County, Kentucky, in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located ...

and Utica, Indiana. At the time it was built, it was the longest iron bridge in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with its 27 spans covering a total mile.Kleber 315 It was to have a minimum span length of , but the spans were of 352 and 380 feet (107 and 116 m). It was built high enough to allow

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

s to pass underneath on their way through the Falls of the Ohio along the Portland Canal; in fact, the bridge was built higher than was required, raising the cost of the bridge by $150,000. On February 18, 1870, the first train to cross the bridge occurred. Railroad bridges seldom attained formal names, so it quickly was called the "Fourteenth Street Bridge" by locals. Soon, commuters trains would take passengers from Jeffersonville and New Albany to Louisville. The

purchased the L&N's 60% ownership of the bridge, and with it, control of the bridge in the mid-1870s, after acquiring the tracks between Jeffersonville and

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. While controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was called the Pennsylvania Bridge. By 1882 the bridge would be used by trains 150 times a day, with communications between each side of the bridge being done by

semaphore Semaphore (; ) is the use of an apparatus to create a visual signal transmitted over distance. A semaphore can be performed with devices including: fire, lights, flags, sunlight, and moving arms. Semaphores can be used for telegraphy when arra ...

.Kleber 315, 316 By the 1900s, the bridge was being used 300 times a day, which was putting more stress on the bridge than it could handle. Between May 1916 and January 1919 a new double-track steel superstructure was placed on the old stone piers. One pier in the middle of the Indiana chute was removed, making one span as long as long, improving river navigation. A lift span replaced a

that was above the canal.Kleber 316 In 1968 a merger between the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad caused the bridge to be controlled by the new Pennsylvania and New York Central Transportation Company, usually called Penn Central. In 1976 it became under the auspices of the Consolidated Railroad Corporation, known as

. The

attained control of it by purchasing it from Conrail in March 1994, after it acquired Conrail's rail line between Louisville and Indianapolis.

Today

The Fourteenth Street Bridge is still used today, although not as much as during its height. Railroads that use the bridge include the owner, the

, and

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

. The bridge marks the eastern boundary of Falls of the Ohio State Park.

Gallery

Image:Fourteenth street bridge louisville side.JPG, View from Portland Image:PennsylvaniaRRbridge.jpg, View from Louisville side Image:PennsylvaniaRRbridge&ControlTower.jpg, View of vertical lift bridge in raised position and of the control tower Image:Ohio_Falls_Bridge.jpg, View from the George Rogers Clark Homesite. Image:Lift span of Fourteenth Street Bridge over Portland Canal, Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky 88c030.jpg, Lift span in raised position with towboat "Jim D" passing underneath Image:Looking SW from Clarksville, Indiana, with part of McAlpine Dam at left and Fourteenth Street Bridge at right a5g007.jpg, Looking SW from Clarksville, Indiana, with part of McAlpine Dam at left and Fourteenth Street Bridge at right Image:Looking S from Falls of the Ohio with Fourteenth Street (L&I) Bridge and McAlpine Dam a5h005.jpg, Looking S from Falls of the Ohio with Fourteenth Street (L&I) Bridge and McAlpine Dam Image:Fourteenth Street Bridge pier and upper gates of McAlpine Dam, 1998, Ohio River mile 605 (98k059).jpg, Fourteenth Street Bridge pier and upper gates of McAlpine Dam, 1998

References

* * * *

History

Today

See also

Gallery

References

Further reading and external links