Parkersburg Bridge (CSX)

Parkersburg Bridge
File:Belpre Parkersburg Bridge.jpg The Parkersburg-Belpre Bridge (foreground), the CSX Bridge (middle ground), and the Memorial Bridge (background), crossing the Ohio River, as viewed from Point Park in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
Coordinates
Carries	CSX Transportation
Crosses	Ohio River
Locale	Parkersburg, West Virginia
Official name	Parkersburg Bridge
Maintained by	CSX Transportation
Characteristics
Design	truss bridge
Total length	7,140 feet (2,180 m)
History
Opened	1871
Sixth Street Railroad Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
File:Sixth Street Railroad Bridge.jpg
Sixth Street Railroad Bridge, 1973
Location	6th Street, Parkersburg, West Virginia
Coordinates
Area	0.8 acres (0.32 ha)
Built	May 18, 1869-January 7, 1871
MPS	Downtown Parkersburg MRA
NRHP Reference #	82001785
Added to NRHP	December 10, 1982

The Parkersburg Bridge crosses the Ohio River between Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Belpre, Ohio. Designed by Jacob Linville, the bridge has 46 spans: 25 deck plate girder, 14 deck truss, 6 through truss, and 1 through plate girder. 50,000 cubic yards (38,000 m³) of stone were used for the 53 piers. The bridge was constructed from May 1869 to January 1871 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. At the time of its completion, the bridge was reportedly the longest in the world at 7,140 feet (2,180 m).

The approach spans were replaced 1898-1900, and the river spans were replaced 1904-1905. The original piers were retained. The steel structure atop the piers was rebuilt between about 1914 and 1917. One channel span was replaced in 1972 after a barge transporting gasoline struck the channel pier.

The bridge was a part of the B&O's Baltimore - St. Louis mainline and offered the railroad easy access to Ohio in transporting coal and other materials to the east coast. Currently the bridge handles traffic on CSX Transportation's Marietta Subdivision.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 under the name Sixth Street Railroad Bridge. At the time of the listing, the bridge was still owned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

See also

• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in West Virginia
• List of crossings of the Ohio River

References

• Track Chart, August 1947; Baltimore & Ohio System, Eastern Region, Monongah Division, Office of the Chief Engineer

External links

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. WV-12, "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Parkersburg Bridge, Ohio River, Parkersburg, Wood County, WV", 12 photos, 10 data pages, 2 photo caption pages