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Key Facts |
| Bridge Name | Facility Carried / Feature Intersected | Location | Structure Type | Construction Date / Builder or Contractor |
| Turntable Bridge | Railroad (Abandoned) Over Black River | Rural: Sanilac County, Michigan | Metal Deck Girder, Stationary | 1926 By: American Bridge Company of New York, New York |
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Technical Facts |
| Structure Length | Deck Width | Main Spans | Approach Spans |
| 150 Feet (47.5 Meters) | 22 Feet (6.7 Meters) | 2 | None |
Thanks to David Cenci for providing some information on this bridge. This bridge, known locally as simply the Turntable Bridge, is tucked away on an abandoned railroad line, but is apparently well known by local rail fans. It is on an old C&O line known as the Sandusky Subdivision, a short line that branched off and went to Sandusky. It is an extremely unusual structure because its main span is actually a railroad turntable that was reused as a deck plate girder bridge! reports that this turntable came from West Virginia. This certainly is quite a creative adaptive reuse of a turntable, although turntables in function are quite similar to a swing bridge, so perhaps this is not so surprising. Either way, anyone who has seen a turntable in its natural setting will immediately recognize this bridge's main span as such. From an aesthetic perspective, the curve of the girders and the unusual design both make this an attractive bridge and an interesting local attraction.
An elaborate plaque lists a bunch of patents, most likely for the movements of the turntable which are gone. The date listed is 1926; this would be when the turntable was manufactured, not when the turntable was readapted and erected over the Black River. The turntable was placed over the Black River sometime during the 1950s. The line was abandoned in 1990 or 1991. Since then, the giant garbage dump appears to have expanded, and their is a small mountain where the tracks used to go a bit west of this bridge.
