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Location DB >
United States >
Wisconsin >
Milwaukee >
Milwaukee River Swing Bridge #1556
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Milwaukee River Swing Bridge #1556
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created by Aran
on 7/25/2021 3:16 PM
last modified by Aran
on 7/25/2021 5:24 PM
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Publically Viewable |
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This location has been labeled by its creator as Public, and therefore can be viewed by anyone.
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A large railroad swing bridge in the middle of the Milwaukee river. Though reaching it is difficult, once on the bridge it's an easy climb to the top with a nice view of the surrounding area.
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Type: Outdoors
Status: Abandoned
Accessibility: Difficult
Recommendation: check it out if you're nearby
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rust
unsafe flooring
Falling in the river
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The bridge tender's house atop the superstructure is pretty cool. Swing bridges themselves are fairly rare these days and this is the largest of the four remaining swing bridges in Milwaukee.
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This railroad swing bridge was built to serve the long-demolished Chicago and Northwestern railroad depot, and was crossed by up to a hundred trains per day at it's peak usage. Measuring at 243 feet long by 32 feet wide and weighing in at 800 tons, this double warren overhead truss type bridge was the largest swing bridge ever built in Milwaukee.
Described as a "technical marvel for it's era" this bridge was the third swing bridge built on the same spot. The first and second bridges, built in the 1870's and 1890's respectively, were both too small to accommodate the increased traffic and heavier trains of the twentieth century. In order to minimize the disruption to railroad traffic, the old 1890's bridge was floated off its foundation and moved 60 feet down river where rails were built to reroute trains until the new bridge could be completed. In a feat documented by the Engineering News publication this task was completed with only five hours of disruption to rail traffic.
The use of this swing bridge sharply declined after the depot across the river was demolished in 1968, though it still saw sporadic use until the last train crossed it in 2006.
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Declared as a historically registered structure, this bridge will not be demolished anytime soon. That being said no attempt has been made to actually preserve it so it will continue to sit.
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The moderator rating is a neutral rating of the content quality, photography, and coolness of this location.
This location has not yet been rated by a moderator.
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This location's validation is current. It was last validated by
Emperor Wang on 7/26/2021 2:25 PM.
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on Jul 26 21 at 14:25, Emperor Wang validated this location
on Jul 26 21 at 3:20, Aran made this location available
on Jul 26 21 at 3:20, Aran updated the main picture
on Jul 26 21 at 3:19, Aran updated gallery In Broad Daylight
on Jul 26 21 at 3:19, Aran updated gallery In Broad Daylight
on Jul 26 21 at 3:18, Aran updated gallery picture IMG_2889.jpg
on Jul 26 21 at 3:17, Aran updated gallery picture IMG_2899.jpg
on Jul 26 21 at 3:17, Aran updated gallery picture IMG_2908.jpg
on Jul 26 21 at 3:17, Aran updated gallery picture IMG_2909.jpg
on Jul 26 21 at 3:17, Aran updated gallery picture IMG_2925.jpg
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