Tittabawassee River Railroad Bridge

I had hoped to find a graceful multi-span through truss here, but instead found a haphazard plethora of strange plate girder spans here instead. I was about to pass the whole thing by when I noticed that one of the spans appeared to be a swing span. A closer inspection revealed that it was indeed. Plaques do not remain on the bridge, but I am guessing it was built by the American Bridge Company. From south to north, the bridge features one steel stringer span, two spans of large through plate girder, one deck plate girder swing span, and one deck plate girder span. The through plate girders have the appearance of a single very long girder, but appear to be sinking where the two are supported in the middle of the river. The mechanics of the swing span are removed, but the main gears are still visible.

This bridge is not the most attractive historic bridge, and not even the most attractive plate girder bridge, but it is still quite interesting. It tells a tale of this shallow, swampy river's navigable past, as well as a good example of movable plate girder construction.