Thornapple River Railroad Bridge

"Cascade Railroad Bridge"

First, A Thornapple River Rant: A Discussion of Various Bridges on Thornapple River.

Thornapple River represents the typical nationwide discrimination seen in the historic bridge world. After I visited this bridge, I continued north on Thornapple River Drive hoping to find a two-span curved chord through girder bridge. A few  years back the county discussed replacing the bridge and concerned citizens had brought a fight before the county against the replacement. When I visited this area I found that they had lost. The bridge had been replaced with a slab. Apparently to try to silence those who wanted the bridge saved, they put curved shapes that I bet were supposed to resembled the original, although they look nothing like the original. Disappointed, I continued north because I was curious if the railroad crossing in Ada over this river was a truss. It turns out the river narrows, and it was just a deck plate girder, old but not really worth including on this site. Worse, I found something blocking the view of the plate girder in Ada. A wooden covered bridge sat, preserved and with a historic informative plaque next to it. This is a distinct reflection of the corruption in historic bridge treatment. Covered bridges are found throughout the USA and in Canada. Curved-chord through girder bridges are only found in Michigan and on a nationwide scale are actually rarer than covered bridges! I am infuriated that the curved chord through girder was not preserved. In contrast, the Thornapple River Railroad Bridge stands, as it always has serving an active railroad line. The railroad companies deserve to be thanked for keeping so many historic bridges around, although they don't do it for the historic. Unlike government owned roads and bridges, where funding sources lead to corrupt spending methods, the railroads are a business and it is in their interest to take care of their existing bridges, which is less expensive. The new highway bridge next to the Thornapple Railroad Bridge, with shoulders so wide that they had to put "No Parking on Bridge" signs up is an example of corrupt government spending. The bridge was so wide I could comfortably walk on the shoulder without creating an inconvenience for the cars... but there was also a sidewalk on the bridge!

About This Bridge

Michigan does not appear to have a lot of deck truss bridges, mostly a lack of deep river valleys create a small amount of bridge clearance. Clearance apparently was not a concern with this river, as the bridge's trusses sit very close to the river. The river must not rise a lot in the rain. The bridge is a long one, with three warren deck truss spans and a deck plate girder approach at each end. The connections on the bridge are riveted. V-lacing is present on the diagonals and on some of the bracing. Lattice is present under the top chord. Winter and bridge location prevented me from getting a closer look at this bridge, so my zoom came in handy at this bridge. I could not see a plaque, but there may be one hidden perhaps on the other side of the bridge. The angle of the endposts of this bridge vary in angle, which makes the bridge look slightly odd.