Abandoned railroad drawbridge/why leave it standing?

GOOD QUESTION. ☺

bigkid posted:

 

What I was wondering is given all the steel in the bridge, why was it left like that? Was it because the cost of tearing it down would be less than the value in scrap? Or could they (unlikely, I know) have the idea that some day they might need that bridge again, and they have  it in some kind of mothballs so to speak? Just seems weird that they would leave something like that standing for so long, hence the question. 

Most likely right the first time: It would cost more to tear down than it's worth.  As long as it's not an "attractive nuisance" for some fool to climb,fall off and sue, it will probably continue to stand in monument.

Since the bridge has very like not had any maintenance in the past 40-50 odd years, it no doubt now has some serious structural issues that would preclude it being taken out of "mothballs" and placed back in service.

Rusty

It is the the old Newark Branch of the Erie Railroad. The rail heads were once painted silver as the bridge was used as a backdrop in some movie scene. 

lots of bizarre abandoned railroad things in NJ. They remain for years and then are suddenly gone...

Tom

The is a bascule bridge on the Buffalo River now abandoned. I believe it may have been on the Nickel Plate back in the day. It paralleled another line just a few feet away and that bridge is still in use. I would post a picture but all appear to be copyrighted.

Pete

If they tear it down can the right of way on either side be turned into a bike path against their wishes since the tracks are gone?

I believe that the rail road right of way is not public domain. Many (all?) times it belongs to "someone." We have the ROW of the Monon that crosses SR 18 in IN that I believe still has no trespassing signs posted and there is nothing on it but weeds now. So a bike path "against their will" is probably not going to happen.

Interesting question.

In Chicago, we have two fairly visible bridges as well as a not so visible swing bridge. 

In the case of the three bridges, all three are in the upright or open position. This allows what little river traffic is left to navigate the waters.

Of the two bascule bridges, one is now a historical landmark, (the CNW Kinzie street bridge) so it would probably need to fall down before it is actually taken down...

The other bascule bridge is part of the St. Charles (Illinois Central) Airline. This bridge (open position) has been slated for repurposing for the Chicago River Riverwalk. It may never come to actual construction, but it is in the planning stages.

The last bridge, (swing type) is still in use (very little) and is not slated for removal as the proposed park that will be adjacent to the bridge. Some of the early proposals are showing the swing bridge as a kind of "pedestrian pier". It will of course stay in the open position so it will be a short pier.

To Rustys comments above, the very tall St. Charles Airline bridge already has graffiti at the very top of the bridge, so someone has already climbed the structure. Bridges opened or closed, makes no difference to someone who wants to gain access.

Charlie

Yesterday I went with a friend to scrap some steel. Price per pound: $0.01

Pretty sure that did not pay for gas to get there.

Moved one by crane this summer from my neck of the woods.

We have an abandoned railroad lift bridge in my home town of Alameda, CA.  Alameda is an island in San Francisco Bay.  

The Union Pacific wants to take the bridge down.  The City of Alameda wants to keep it in case the city might need rail service sometime in the future.  So far, the city has won and the bridge sits in the open position.

I believe that it is probably a good decision to keep the bridge for now.  Alameda had many busy rail lines in the early 1900s.  The city was the original terminus of the transcontinental railroad on San Francisco Bay in the 1870s.   There are photos of The City of San Francisco moving through the streets of Alameda during the 1930s.  The Alameda Belt Line provided freight service until about the late 1980s or early 1990s.  Given the ever increasing demand for commuter service, I can see a need for rail service in the city at some future date.   NH Joe

Not only is the price of scrap steel very low but the dismantling of the bridges is somewhat dangerous and very labor intensive.  Couple that to years and layers of lead paint on them and you have an expensive scrapping job.  

Thankfully this is the case, since it leaves us with many beautiful bridges to admire in their retirement.  Relics from a great era in railroading. 

Norton posted:

The is a bascule bridge on the Buffalo River now abandoned. I believe it may have been on the Nickel Plate back in the day. It paralleled another line just a few feet away and that bridge is still in use. I would post a picture but all appear to be copyrighted.

Pete

Is it this one?  (Or maybe this one? Is it possible there are 2 so close together?  Or are these one and the same just different angles?)

Links should be fine, as long as you don't paste the picture yourself without permission.  That's where you get yourself and/or OGR in trouble. 

Since the picture is not hosted here, and I'm not playing any link games to get it to actually show up here without clicking and going to the site it's actually on, there should be no issue.

-Dave

bigkid posted:

.....Anyway, the diner sits by the Passaic river (real scenic, there is a concrete plant across the street from it!). Within site of the restaurant there is an old railroad drawbridge, called the NX (I looked it up), that basically was abandoned in the open position in the  1970's. I believe it was part of the old Erie system and these days I think NS has control of it via the Conrail sell off agreement. 

What I was wondering is given all the steel in the bridge, why was it left like that?

The plan may be to just let the bridge fall into the Passaic River. It has a history of being one of the most polluted rivers in the United States. With all those chemicals present, after falling into the river, the bridge might just melt away.

 Some of the Wikipedia info on the bridge:

The bridge is located within the North Jersey Shared Assets Area and is assigned to Norfolk Southern Railway. 

Conrail continued to serve both sides of the branch with local freight train service until 2002, when the eastern side of the branch was removed from active service, partly due to the loss of the last shipper on the branch, Poly-Tech. A three-track trestle bridge over Passaic Avenue, just east of the NX bridge was removed in the mid-2000s to increase roadway clearance. On the west bank of the Passaic River, the Newark Industrial Track is still an active freight line serving several industries in the Newark area.

In 1982, the bridge was used in the filming of the movie Annie. It was left in its open, or raised position during the filming, though the structure itself was painted black, and the rails were painted silver. Since the filming, the bridge has received no maintenance and is since known as the 'Annie Bridge' among the people of Kearny and Harrison.

Soo Line posted:

Moved one by crane this summer from my neck of the woods.

 

 

 

 

Where was this located?

bigkid posted:

I have a pretty good guess. My wife and I were at a diner in the improbable town of East Newark, NJ (called the Tops diner, place has unreal food, it is routinely ranked as the best diner in the US by some sources and all I can say is, it was really, really good food). Anyway, the diner sits by the Passaic river (real scenic, there is a concrete plant across the street from it!). Within site of the restaurant there is an old railroad drawbridge, called the NX (I looked it up), that basically was abandoned in the open position in the  1970's. I believe it was part of the old Erie system and these days I think NS has control of it via the Conrail sell off agreement. 

What I was wondering is given all the steel in the bridge, why was it left like that? Was it because the cost of tearing it down would be less than the value in scrap? Or could they (unlikely, I know) have the idea that some day they might need that bridge again, and they have  it in some kind of mothballs so to speak? Just seems weird that they would leave something like that standing for so long, hence the question. 

About $10,000,000 in bruracratic red tape if you take the bridge down and later have to replace it