The River Spans of the Cincinnati and Covington Elevated Railway, Transfer and Bridge Company: Fid-Bau Portal

The River Spans of the Cincinnati and Covington Elevated Railway, Transfer and Bridge Company

Burr, William H.

The structure which forms the subject of this paper crosses the Ohio River at Cincinnati, Ohio, and with its approaches forms a part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad system. It acquires its interest as a piece of engineering chiefly from the magnitude of the individual spans of which it is composed. There were no special engineering difficulties to be overcome either in the substructure or superstructure, but the central span of the three, 550 feet long between centers of piers, and 84 feet deep between centers of chords, is the greatest simple non-continuous truss span yet constructed. The two spans which flank the center or main channel span are 490 feet each between pier centers, with center depths of 75 feet; and the fact that all the spans carry a double track railway with two roadways and two sidewalks, renders them also the heaviest non-continuous trusses which have yet been built either in this country or in Europe. The detail drawings accompanying this paper show all the main features of the trusses and floor systems and their connections which are of any special interest. As they indicate, all the main parts of the trusses are of steel, while the lateral and tram;verse systems of bracing and the floor-beams and stringers are of wrought-iron.