Railroad/Road Bridge in Maine

I just came across this apparently unique bridge in the HABS/HAER archives.  The Free-Black bridge spans the Androscoggin River between Brunswick and Topsham, Maine.  It carries a branch of the Maine Central on top, and a single lane road bridge suspended below.

Free-Black Bridge, Brunswick-Topsham, Maine.
Photo by Jet Lowe for HABS/HAER.

The following picture gives you a better idea of how the roadway is suspended from the steel truss railway bridge.

Free-Black Bridge Road Deck, Brunswick-Topsham, Maine.
Photo by Jet Lowe for HABS/HAER.

This bridge was built in 1909, and I was afraid it might have been demolished since Jet Lowe took these pictures in 1994, but a check of Bing Maps shows that it is still there.

Free-Black Bridge, Brunswick-Topsham, Maine.
From Bing Maps

According to an article in The Forecaster,

After a driver struck a support beam on the one-lane bridge in early April, the DOT closed the bridge and engineers discovered the pressure-treated wooden guard rails were rotting.

The bridge is now closed to traffic, but it's still there, so I'll have to go see it.

Jet Lowe in Cleveland

In the summer of 1979, Jet Lowe took a series of photographs of these huge machines used to unload ore from ships on Lake Erie. In this photograph, you can see a ship  (the George M. Carl) docked to the left of the massive Hulett ore unloaders.  Downtown Cleveland is in the distance.

Pennsylvania Railway Ore Dock, Lake Erie at
Whiskey Island, approximately 1.5 miles west of
Public Square, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, OH

The unloader operator could drop the ore directly into waiting rail cars for immediate shipping, or deposit it in the storage yard to the left.

Jet Lowe in Northampton

This bridge, built in 1897, carried the Boston & Maine Railroad across the Connecticut River just above Northampton. Today it is part of the Norwottuck Rail Trail. Jet Lowe took these pictures in 1984 for the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER).

See also my earlier post about this bridge.

Detail view looking north
Detail view looking East showing lattice truss configuration and bridge plate at far right

Jet Lowe in Brooklyn

View from top of Brooklyn Tower looking NW

Just saw Man on Wire about Philippe Petit's walk between the two towers in 1974. Jet Lowe took this picture (and many others) in 1982 while documenting the Brooklyn Bridge for the HABS/HAER project. Notice the old Bell System logo on the central office to the right of the bridge. Click on the picture for a larger version.

Original caption:
42. View from top of Brooklyn Tower looking NW showing main cables and suspendors with lower Manhattan in the background. Jet Lowe, photographer, 1982.
HAER NY,31-NEYO,90-42

Jet Lowe in Houston

Astrodome ceiling, Houston, Texas. (Jet Lowe photograph)

Baseball season again. Though the Astrodome no longer hosts either baseball or football, the Astros played here for more than 30 years. And in 2005, many people from New Orleans found temporary shelter here as they fled Hurricane Katrina. There are more than 9 acres under this roof. Jet Lowe took this picture in 2004 for the HABS/HAER project.

Jet Lowe in New York, 1984

New torch and flame with Manhattan skyline in background

The Statue of Liberty was refurbished prior to its centennial in 1986. Jet Lowe and Jack Boucher and other HABS/HAER photographers thoroughly documented the operation, taking 230 black and white photographs and 51 color transparencies. These are just the ones that show up on the Library of Congress web site: I'm sure they took many more exposures.

Jet Lowe took this photograph of the new torch with its gold leaf in 1984. The title is: New torch and flame with Manhattan skyline in background.

Jet Lowe in California

Los Angeles aqueduct

Jet Lowe, 2001, near Inyo/Bishop for HAER. Jawbone Canyon section of the Los Angeles aqueduct.

Jet Lowe in Windsor, Vermont

Cornish-Windsor bridge
The Cornish-Windsor covered bridge spans the Connecticut River between Cornish, New Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont. Constructed in 1866, the two spans measure 203 feet and 204 feet long. These photographs were taken in 1984 by Jet Lowe for the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER).

Cornish-Windsor bridge underside

Jet Lowe in Hancock, New Hampshire

Hancock-Greenfield bridgeJet Lowe took this picture of the Hancock-Greenfield bridge in November 2003 for the HABS/HAER project. What impresses me about many of the HABS/HAER photographs (and particularly those of Jet Lowe and Jack Boucher) is that, while they are intended as historical record, many of them are also beautiful, artistic photographs. Jet Lowe has the eye.

Jet Lowe in Montana

Paragon bridge, Montana

Jet Lowe took this picture of the Paragon Bridge spanning the Yellowstone River in Montana in May, 1980. Lowe and Jack Boucher have taken an astonishing number of pictures of historic structures (including many bridges) for the HABS/HAER project of the Library of Congress.