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International Railroad Bridge, American Locks Section

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1913, 1945; Straus Bascule Bridge Company. Over the American Locks on St. Mary's River
  • (Photograph by Kathryn Bishop Eckert)

The original International Railroad Bridge, which opened in 1887 to link the American and Canadian Saults, has undergone numerous changes. In 1913, when the Davis and Sabin locks were under construction, the two lattice truss spans—each 104 feet long—and one of the ten 239-foot camelback truss spans were removed and replaced with a Straus Trunnion Bascule Bridge, designed by the Straus Bascule Bridge Company of Chicago and built by the Pennsylvania Steel Company. This trunnion bridge, commonly called the “Jackknife Bridge,” is 23 feet in width and 336 feet in length. The swing span was replaced in 1945 by a vertical-lift bridge, 21 feet in width, 369 feet in length, and with steel towers each 175 feet high and equipped with 70-ton counterweights.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Kathryn Bishop Eckert
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Data

What's Nearby

International Railroad Bridge, River Section
International Highway Bridge
Lake Superior State University (New Fort Brady)
Sault Ste. Marie U.S. Port of Entry (Border Station)
Sault Locks (St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal)

Citation

Kathryn Bishop Eckert, "International Railroad Bridge, American Locks Section", [Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MI-01-CH10.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Michigan

Buildings of Michigan, Kathryn Bishop Eckert. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 554-554.

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