Another bridge directly on Madison's Heritage Trail is the Crooked Creek Rail Bridge. The rails are not seen in these pictures here, because they are located at the top of the ridge that the bridge supports. While it certainly is not as in as bad of shape as its neighbor down stream, it's still worth taking a look. According to the discussion on Bridge Hunter there is some documentation that shows this bridge opened in 1841, making it one of the earliest bridges built in the entire state!
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| If you don't want to get wet, the only way to really get in the tunnel is this skinny walkway. |
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| Check out the limestone used in the floor of the tunnel. |
Update: 06/12/13
We went back and checked out the Crooked Creek railroad bridge again and decided to insert a few more pictures into this post.
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| The silhouette of the explorer seen on the right side of this picture gives you an idea of the scale of the tunnel supporting the railroad far up above. |
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| Here is another shot of the entrance on the Heritage Trail side of the tunnel. |
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| Finally we have the major omission from the original post, the railroad tracks on top of the ridge the tunnel is supporting as it crosses Crooked Creek. The tracks appear that they haven't been used in quite a while, but they aren't in terrible shape yet. |
where at in Madison is this?
ReplyDeleteThe bridge is located on the west side of downtown Madison, IN. Some of the area near the bridge has been turned into a Heritage Trail. You can follow the trail starting near the Ohio River line on the west end of town and follow it all the to the covered bridge. My Grandparents used to walk up and down the trail (it wasn't even an official trail back then) in the 60's and 70's as they didn't have vehicles and it was the easiest way to reach the hilltop area from the west end of town. My Dad used to walk trail a lot with them and would take my sister and I to the area when we were kids.
ReplyDeleteFor more info on the trail you can visit:
http://www.heritagetrailconservancy.com/