Fourteenth Street Bridge | |
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 The bridge viewed fromFalls of the Ohio State Park in 2025. The two major fixed spans are visible, but the drawspan over theLouisville and Portland Canal is hidden behind trees at far right. | |
| Coordinates | 38°16′10″N85°45′52″W / 38.2694°N 85.7645°W /38.2694; -85.7645 |
| Carries | Louisville and Indiana Railroad andCSX Transportation |
| Crosses | Ohio River |
| Locale | Louisville, Kentucky andClarksville, Indiana |
| Other name | Ohio Falls Bridge |
| Maintained by | Louisville and Indiana Railroad |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Trussvertical-lift bridge |
| Total length | 3,289 ft (1,000 m) |
| Longest span | 645 ft (197 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | 1870 |
| Location | |
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TheFourteenth Street Bridge, also known as theOhio Falls Bridge,Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge,Conrail Railroad Bridge orLouisville and Indiana (L&I) Bridge, is atrussdrawbridge that spans theOhio River, betweenLouisville, Kentucky andClarksville, Indiana.
Built by the Louisville Bridge Company and completed in 1870,[1][2] the bridge was operated for many years by thePennsylvania Railroad, giving the company its only access toKentucky. Ownership of the railroad and the bridge passed on toPenn Central and laterConrail, which then sold the line from Louisville toIndianapolis, Indiana to theLouisville and Indiana Railroad, the current bridge owner.
The draw portion of the bridge is avertical-lift span, built in about 1918 in place of aswing span. The towers and machinery of the lift span were designed byWaddell and Son, Inc., and there is a plaque on the SW tower reading, "Waddell Vertical Lift Bridge, Waddell and Son, 1917". The draw span is across the upstream end of theLouisville and Portland Canal, which includes theMcAlpine Locks and Dam. Ohio River traffic passes through this canal to navigate past theFalls of the Ohio.
There were attempts to build a bridge to link Louisville to the Indiana shore as early as the 1830s.James Guthrie, as the head of the Ohio Bridge Company, attempted to build such a bridge in 1829. An architect fromNew England, Ithiel Town, was to build a wooden structure. A cornerstone was laid for the bridge in 1836 by Twelfth Street in Louisville, but thePanic of 1837 stopped further construction. This failure, plus the unsuccessful attempt to woo the capital of Kentucky to Louisville, would become known as "Guthrie's Folly". An additional attempt was made in the 1850s, but that too would be stymied due to financing difficulties.[3]
By the 1860s, theLouisville and Nashville Railroad and theJeffersonville and Indianapolis Railroad both desired a railroad bridge across the river. TheUnited States Congress approved the building of such a bridge on February 17, 1865, stating that it must not interfere with river traffic. As there were no bridges across the Ohio River atCincinnati or any place west, including Louisville, crossing the river during the winter months during the war years stressed the need for such a bridge. The L&N financed the Louisville Bridge Company to begin building such a bridge, with the work beginning on August 1, 1867.Albert Fink was the architect, who used his Fink truss design for the project. Stone for the bridge's piers came fromBardstown Junction, Kentucky andUtica, Indiana. At the time it was built, it was the longest iron bridge in theUnited States, with its 27 spans covering a total mile.[4] It was to have a minimum span length of 330 feet (100 m), but the spans were of 352 and 380 feet (107 and 116 m). It was built high enough to allowsteamboats to pass underneath on their way through theFalls of the Ohio along the Portland Canal; in fact, the bridge was built higher than was required, raising the cost of the bridge by $150,000.[4][5]
On February 18, 1870, the first train crossed the bridge. Railroad bridges seldom attained formal names, so it quickly was called the "Fourteenth Street Bridge" by locals. Soon, commuters trains would take passengers fromJeffersonville andNew Albany to Louisville. ThePennsylvania Railroad purchased the L&N's 60% ownership of the bridge, and with it, control of the bridge in the mid-1870s, after acquiring the tracks between Jeffersonville andIndianapolis. While controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was called the Pennsylvania Bridge. By 1882 the bridge would be used by trains 150 times a day, with communications between each side of the bridge being done bysemaphore.[6] By the 1900s, the bridge was being used 300 times a day, which was putting more stress on the bridge than it could handle.
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Between May 1916 and January 1919 a new double-track steel superstructure was placed on the old stone piers. One pier in the middle of the Indiana chute was removed, making one span as long as 645 feet (197 m) long, improving river navigation. Alift span replaced aswing span that was above the canal.[7]
In 1968 a merger between the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad caused the bridge to be controlled by the newPennsylvania and New York Central Transportation Company, usually called Penn Central. In 1976 it became under the auspices of the Consolidated Railroad Corporation, known asConrail. TheLouisville and Indiana Railroad attained control of it by purchasing it from Conrail in March 1994, after it acquired Conrail's rail line between Louisville and Indianapolis.[7]
The Fourteenth Street Bridge is still used today, although not as much as during its height. Railroads that use the bridge include the owner, theLouisville and Indiana Railroad, andCSX Transportation. The bridge marks the eastern boundary ofFalls of the Ohio State Park.
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38°16′10″N85°45′52.30″W / 38.26944°N 85.7645278°W /38.26944; -85.7645278
Bridges of theOhio River | ||||
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