PennDOT would like to sell you a bridge
October 27, 2021 7:31 PM Subscribe
Really. Pennsylvania's Historical and Museum Commission and PennDOT have a collection of historic steel truss bridges lovely described, photographed, and available for sale to appropriate homes. Link is to Issue 7 of the Bridge to Success newsletter; more eligible bridges in the archives on the site.
I’m really more of a Bascule fellow.
posted by hwyengr at 8:16 PM on October 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by hwyengr at 8:16 PM on October 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
Wouldn't it be cool, if you had a park with a winding creek through it, to widen it and put all these cool little bridges across it? It could be a flat paved trail that just goes across a bunch picturesque little bridges. You could probably divert a stream specifically to make a series of Instagrammable vistas with convenient places to get a good portrait. Or, set it up as a "lazy river" or flume kind of thing and let people walk on the trail or tube down the flume. Or put a little tram that goes over all the bridge, like that little train that's in (used to be in?) Griffith Park.
posted by blnkfrnk at 8:49 PM on October 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by blnkfrnk at 8:49 PM on October 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was attracted to the idea until the FAQs got past possible structural deterioration and mentioned lead paint. None of the lovely places I’d put a lovely bridge need more lead paint. Are things that size safely strippable at all?
posted by clew at 8:55 PM on October 27, 2021
posted by clew at 8:55 PM on October 27, 2021
We'll put up a sign that says "don't lick the bridge."
Just kidding, that is a good point and I don't know how much remediation like that costs. I think they have to sand-blast it and collect up all the leavings, which sounds expensive. I've often wondered if they could seal in the lead with a coating somehow. Or maybe you find somewhere with a lot of lead already so it's not like the bridge is making it any worse?
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:14 PM on October 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Just kidding, that is a good point and I don't know how much remediation like that costs. I think they have to sand-blast it and collect up all the leavings, which sounds expensive. I've often wondered if they could seal in the lead with a coating somehow. Or maybe you find somewhere with a lot of lead already so it's not like the bridge is making it any worse?
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:14 PM on October 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
I just love metal truss bridges of all kinds. We didn't travel much when I was young, but when we did, crossing these bridges was a wonder.
My parents met in a town named after the guy (Octave Chanute) who designed the first bridge to cross the Missouri river, a steel truss bridge. It's impossible to know now but maybe this had a bit to do with my dad's career as a civil engineer. One of my earliest memories is of a balsa wood model of a truss bridge he had built, perhaps of that very bridge. My father remains an enigma to me in so many ways, but this memory is one of the ways I feel that I almost understand him.
Whenever I see these bridges now, they're usually in such disrepair that they're reduced to one-way-alternate travel, foot travel, or just abandoned. Bridges, like everything else, need constant attention or they return to nature.
I was sad to see the Oakland span of the SF bay bridge torn down, though it was a hulky, inelegant exemplar of the style. An ironworker buddy of mine helped tear down that bridge and is working on an art project using some of its scrap. I look forward to the result; it deserves to be commemorated.
posted by sjswitzer at 9:20 PM on October 27, 2021 [7 favorites]
My parents met in a town named after the guy (Octave Chanute) who designed the first bridge to cross the Missouri river, a steel truss bridge. It's impossible to know now but maybe this had a bit to do with my dad's career as a civil engineer. One of my earliest memories is of a balsa wood model of a truss bridge he had built, perhaps of that very bridge. My father remains an enigma to me in so many ways, but this memory is one of the ways I feel that I almost understand him.
Whenever I see these bridges now, they're usually in such disrepair that they're reduced to one-way-alternate travel, foot travel, or just abandoned. Bridges, like everything else, need constant attention or they return to nature.
I was sad to see the Oakland span of the SF bay bridge torn down, though it was a hulky, inelegant exemplar of the style. An ironworker buddy of mine helped tear down that bridge and is working on an art project using some of its scrap. I look forward to the result; it deserves to be commemorated.
posted by sjswitzer at 9:20 PM on October 27, 2021 [7 favorites]
Do they come with potholes, cracks, and road-salt for authenticity?
I kid, I kid. Grew up in PA. Have relatives that worked for Pendot. This is kind of cool.
posted by eagles123 at 9:21 PM on October 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
I kid, I kid. Grew up in PA. Have relatives that worked for Pendot. This is kind of cool.
posted by eagles123 at 9:21 PM on October 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
Or maybe you find somewhere with a lot of lead already so it's not like the bridge is making it any worse?
They do talk about the bridges’ importance in local industrial history.
posted by clew at 9:28 PM on October 27, 2021
They do talk about the bridges’ importance in local industrial history.
posted by clew at 9:28 PM on October 27, 2021
lenticular truss is only truss
posted by away for regrooving at 11:49 PM on October 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by away for regrooving at 11:49 PM on October 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
When my state relocated an old highway in the 90s, one lucky landowner got the old alignment and the really neat two lane through truss passing over frog bayou for free. The bridge won't be forever, but the well built state highway will last a couple of lifetimes being used only as a driveway.
It's actually quite amazing how long those small 1910-1940 era through truss bridges can last with minimal maintenance when they aren't exposed to salt and aren't destroyed by heavy vehicles they were never designed to hold.
posted by wierdo at 3:33 AM on October 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's actually quite amazing how long those small 1910-1940 era through truss bridges can last with minimal maintenance when they aren't exposed to salt and aren't destroyed by heavy vehicles they were never designed to hold.
posted by wierdo at 3:33 AM on October 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
Pittsburgh might be the City Of Bridges, but at last I can fulfill my dream of having the Apartment Of Bridges. Take that, PGH.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:02 AM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Going To Maine at 8:02 AM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
away for regrooving: "lenticular truss is only truss"
worst PornHub section evar
posted by chavenet at 9:22 AM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
worst PornHub section evar
posted by chavenet at 9:22 AM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Pfff, if you believe this, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you!
posted by brand-gnu at 10:03 AM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by brand-gnu at 10:03 AM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
"The Waterville Bridge was one of the first metal truss bridges in Pennsylvania to be adaptively reused on a trail"--the Appalachian Trail, that is.
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:47 AM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:47 AM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Are things that size safely strippable at all?
Pretty sure they are, actually. Here's the ARS Super Unit - basically a sandblasting vacuum that uses steel grit instead of sand to strip grit and paint, sucks up all the resultant output, then magnetically separates the steel grit back out for reuse. Because it's a dry process with an ongoing vacuum, it captures almost all the particulate waste.
posted by ptfe at 12:02 PM on October 28, 2021 [5 favorites]
Pretty sure they are, actually. Here's the ARS Super Unit - basically a sandblasting vacuum that uses steel grit instead of sand to strip grit and paint, sucks up all the resultant output, then magnetically separates the steel grit back out for reuse. Because it's a dry process with an ongoing vacuum, it captures almost all the particulate waste.
posted by ptfe at 12:02 PM on October 28, 2021 [5 favorites]
Oh wow ptfe what a great thing!
I note "Bridge" is one of the target markets, even.
posted by clew at 5:33 PM on October 28, 2021
I note "Bridge" is one of the target markets, even.
posted by clew at 5:33 PM on October 28, 2021
I have a 300' long backyard. The listed bridge would fit perfectly between my back porch and my garage. Sadly, my wife thinks this idea is a terrible one.
posted by gwydapllew at 6:37 PM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by gwydapllew at 6:37 PM on October 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Ptfe, that is a wonderful lead paint suckling contraption, thank you!
posted by sepviva at 6:58 PM on October 28, 2021
posted by sepviva at 6:58 PM on October 28, 2021
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Do you have anything in the Cantilever range?
posted by clavdivs at 7:39 PM on October 27, 2021 [3 favorites]