Wilmington's 3rd and 4th Street Bridges

Relics of Downtown Wilmington's Railroad Past

Many of us are familiar with the phrase "bridge to nowhere." To say that about these two bridges wouldn't be fair, as both go somewhere. Instead, these are two of Wilmington's four "bridges over nothing." The depression that these two structures cross today was once the Atlantic Coast Line railroad bed, which has been called the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad and Seaboard Coast Line at other times in its history. Today the line has been abandoned and fenced off, though as you can see in the two pictures a parking lot for a community college has been built in some of it.

3rd Street Bridge

This bridge has been demolished and replaced

Neither of these two bridges are particularly historic nor technologically significant. Of the two the structures the 3rd Street Bridge is the most notable, for a few reasons. First of all, it is the oldest structure, having been built originally in 1920. In fact, it is the oldest bridge owned by the NCDOT in New Hanover County. When on the bridge, however, there is very little to indicate that it was built during this time. The railings are from the 1950s, with the distinctive arched openings and "staircase" blocks at the ends. In addition, it has five lanes of a modern width; this is because the bridge was widened around 1955. In this project lanes were added to both sides of the bridge, so the only visible pieces of the 1920 portions are underneath. The 1920 spans are of the tee-beam design, meaning that the beams and the deck were cast as one piece. The 1955 sections make use of more modern steel stringers; these can span greater distances than the tee-beam design, as can be seen in some shots, in which the 1955 parts cross the same distance with one span that the 1920 span crosses with two.

For the most part both the 1920 and 1955 portions of the bridge use thin columns, "piles," to support the piers, as opposed to heavy, solid piers; piles were probably used because they could be sunk deep into Wilmington's soft, sandy soil. However, on the bridge's southern end, there are some "thick" piers supporting three 1955 spans on each side. Features like this are what make this bridge interesting. It is in a sense a "thrown-together" bridge, lacking a consistent design.

There is a definite "hump" to this bridge, with inclines on both ends. Cars "vanish" once they cross over the center spans. This is another remnant of its past role as a crossing of an active railroad line. The bridge is located at a point of the topography where it begins to slope down towards the river, where the ACL depot is located. Hence, the walls of the railroad bed are lower at this location than where the 4th Street bridge is located. In order to provide sufficient clearance for the trains passing underneath the bridge was built higher than the land on both ends. The grade the roadway climbs is rather severe, due to the fact that it's in an urban area, with intersecting streets on both ends. The "appearing" effect of cars coming over the bridges makes the intersection with Hanover Street, on the north side, dangerous, especially for cars taking left turns onto 3rd from Hanover. Cars "appear" over the bridge at a very fast rate, and no doubt many accidents were caused as a result of people making this near-blind left turn. This was recently remedied by adding a divider preventing left turns from Hanover.

To describe this bridge as "past its prime" would be an understatement. The maintenance on it has been pretty substandard, it seems, considering its importance in Wilmington's street network. The 1955 beams are rusty, while the 1920 spans are losing concrete, as a cage over the access road to the Cape Fear Community College parking lot lies solely underneath the older part of the bridge. The weight limit limit on the bridge is 18 tons, though I saw a loaded dump truck and a wide load tractor trailer crossing it while I was taking pictures, meaning that this limit is probably exceeded on a daily basis. And where else could they go? 3rd Street is the only north-south four-lane street through downtown, an important corridor to US 74, 17, 421, and I-40. Replacing it will be a headache-inducing task.

Facts

Year built: 1920
Year reconstructed: 1955
Route Carried: SR-1627
Crosses: Abandoned ACL Railroad
Location: Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC
Design: Concrete tee-beam (1920); steel stringer (1955)
Number of spans: 10 (1920 or 1955?)
Main span length: 61 ft. Total length: 298.9 ft.
Inside width: 68.2 ft., five lanes
Sufficiency Rating: 7.4 out of 100 (2008)
National Bridge Inventory ID: 1290035
Coordinates: 34°14'33.66"N, 77°56'48.86"W

Pictures

4th Street Bridge

More so than its neighbor to the west the 4th Street bridge is a bridge over nothing. It crosses a section of the railbed that is fenced off and grassy. Built in 1950, this is a simple steel stringer bridge with prominent bearings betweens the beams and the piers. The street it carries has only two through lanes, and isn't an important thoroughfare. Most cars drive over it at about 25 MPH. Interestingly enough, the bridge is wide enough to carry four lanes. I tend to believe that this was done with the intention of making 4th Street into a four-lane street or it may have had four lanes at the time the bridge was built. I highly doubt that it was made this wide in order to provide extra parking for the surrounding shops, though this is possible too. Today it is illegal to park on the bridge, so its extra width seems rather pointless. Another interesting feature of the structure is its railing design. It is very reminiscent of simple fencing, with horizontal pickets. A similar design was used on many bridges in Virginia. Usually steel is used in place of concrete with these types of railings. The concrete gives it such a cleaner appearance, while steel simply looks bolted-on. It is not an NCDOT-standard railing, and thus shows that the bridge was built and is maintained by the city of Wilmington.

This is a three-span structure, with a short approach spans between the abutment and the piers. Compare its design to the 2000s era 5th Street bridge, also owned by the city, which uses a single span to cross a similar distance. The newer bridge has more pronounced abutments to substitute for these short spans.

Facts

Year built: 1950
Route Carried: N 4th St
Crosses: Abandoned ACL Railroad
Location: Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC
Design: Steel stringer
Number of spans: 3
Main span length: 89.9 ft. Total length: 148 ft.
Inside width: 44 ft., two lanes + shoulders
Sufficiency Rating: 39 out of 100 (2008)
National Bridge Inventory ID: 1290034
Coordinates: 34°14'34.50"N, 77°56'44.02"W

Wilmington's 3rd and 4th Street Bridges

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