Steel stringer, girder, and tee-beam bridges
Steel stringer, girder, and tee-beam bridges
These are the unassuming structures, the structures meant to perform a job without being noticed. Highway departments have no reservations about maintaining such bridges built as early as the 1920s. Despite the lack of intricacy in their designs I still find the older examples of these structures (those built before the 1960s, mostly) to be worthy examples of our transportation heritage.
North Carolina
The Coastal Plain
- Isabel Holmes Bridge -- A 1980s bascule bridge over the Northeast Cape Fear River in Wilmington, NC.
- NC 130 Shallotte River Bridge -- Built in 1937, this concrete tee-beam bridge continues to carry today's traffic sufficiently without alteration.
- Old NC 10 Slocum Creek Bridge -- A 1924 concrete girder bridge that was once apart of the state's Central Highway.
- US 701 Cape Fear River Bridge -- An arching deck plate girder bridge located at the site of one of North Carolina's most magnificent truss bridges.
- US 117 Northeast Cape Fear River Bridge -- A steel stringer bridge with curving beams located at one of the state's most historic crossings.
- Wilmington's 3rd and 4th Street Bridges -- Two pieces of downtown infrastructure that have some interesting features.
The Piedmont
- Bynum Bridge -- A 1922-constructed tee-beam bridge over the Haw River from North Carolina's early state highway era.
- Cramerton Road Bridge -- A lost 1950s standard plan steel stringer road bridge over the South Fork Catawba River
- Haw River, NC Railroad Bridge -- Located in Haw River, crossing the Haw River, this girder bridge has some relatively tall piers.
- I-85 Yadkin River Bridge (1955) -- the former crossing of the Yadkin River by Interstate 85.
- US 29 and 70 Yadkin River Bridge (1951) -- the former crossing of the Yadkin River by US 29 and US 70 in East Spencer, NC.
The Mountains
- US 276 Looking Glass Creek Bridges -- Four attractive stone-faced tee-beam bridges located on a scenic mountain highway.
Virginia
The Piedmont
- US 1 Stony Creek Bridge (1946) -- The northbound companion to the 1927 Stony Creek arch bridge.