Kansas City Southern Railroad Bridge, Cross Bayou | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 32°31′08″N93°45′00″W / 32.519°N 93.75°W |
Carries | Railroad (defunct) |
Crosses | Cross Bayou |
Locale | Shreveport, LA |
Owner | City of Shreveport |
Characteristics | |
Design | Truss |
Material | Steel |
Total length | 354 ft (107.9 m) |
Width | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
Height | 40 ft (12 m) (central A-frame) |
No. of spans | 3 |
Piers in water | 2 |
History | |
Designer | J.A.L. Waddell, Consulting Engineer |
Opened | 1926 1890s (original location) |
Kansas City Southern Railroad Bridge, Cross Bayou | |
Location | Over Cross Bayou, between North Spring Street bridge and Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway bridge, Shreveport, Louisiana |
Built | Mid-1890s |
Architectural style | Waddell "A" Truss Bridge |
NRHP reference No. | 90002173 |
Added to NRHP | March 23, 1995 |
Location | |
The Kansas City Southern Railroad Bridge (Cross Bayou), in downtown Shreveport, Louisiana, is an "A" Truss bridge erected in its current location in 1926 and abandoned in the 1980s. Due to its national significance to the progress of American bridge design, and its rarity as one of only two known surviving examples, the structure was designated a National Historic Place in 1995.
The "A" frame truss design of the central span is based on an 1894 patent [1] by John Alexander Low Waddell, which was replicated multiple times throughout the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf and St. Louis Southwestern railroads. It also became the standard design for 65 to 116 ft (19.8 to 35.4 m) crossings along the Nippon Railway in Japan. [2]
According to the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation, the structure is the oldest known bridge in Louisiana and was originally erected in the mid-to-late 1890s at an unknown location over the Arkansas River in Oklahoma. [3] In 1926, it was moved to its current location spanning Cross Bayou (Twelve Mile Bayou) in downtown Shreveport, about 100 yards (91 m) east of the neighboring Spring Street crossing. [4] : 3 After relocation, the crossing carried the Kansas City Southern Railway. While the line was reportedly abandoned in the late 1980s, the original single track remains in place. Connections to the Union Pacific's existing trackage at Spring Street have been removed. [5] In the early 1990s, the railroad donated the bridge to the City of Shreveport, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. [4] [6]
In 2017, the Shreveport Downtown Development Authority initiated a survey of the bridge, citing potential future redevelopment of the site as a greenway due to its proximity to Clyde Fant Parkway along the Red River. [6] [7]
The other remaining Waddell "A" Truss Bridge, also listed on the National Register, was built in Missouri in 1898.
Shreveport is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, of which it is the parish seat. It extends along the west bank of the Red River into neighboring Bossier Parish. The 2020 census tabulation for the city's population was 187,593, while the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area had a population of 393,406.
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A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. There are several types of truss bridges, including some with simple designs that were among the first bridges designed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A truss bridge is economical to construct primarily because it uses materials efficiently.
Dr. John Alexander Low Waddell was a Canadian-American civil engineer and prolific bridge designer, with more than a thousand structures to his credit in the United States, Canada, as well as Mexico, Russia, China, Japan, and New Zealand. Waddell’s work set standards for elevated railroad systems and helped develop materials suitable for large span bridges. His most important contribution was the development of the steam-powered high-lift bridge. Waddell was a widely respected writer on bridge design and engineering theory, as well as an advocate for quality in higher education engineering programs. The company he founded in 1887, 'J.A.L. Waddell, Consulting Engineer,' would eventually become the modern day Hardesty & Hanover, a leading moveable bridge engineering firm. Many of Waddell's surviving bridges are now considered historic landmarks.
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Kansas City Southern Depot may refer to:
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The Waddell "A" Truss Bridge is standardized truss bridge design that was first patented in 1893 by prolific civil engineer John Alexander Low Waddell. The design provided a simple low-cost, high-strength solution for use by railroads across the United States and Empire of Japan for short spans of around 100 ft. According to the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), "beyond its role in the growth of railroad transportation, the "A" truss is perhaps most historically significant when viewed within the context of Waddell's career and the emergence of the American bridge fabrication industry into international marketing."
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Media related to KCS Cross Bayou Bridge at Wikimedia Commons