River City Bridges Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge Chattanooga TN

by Reid Callaway

Title

River City Bridges Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge Chattanooga TN

Artist

Reid Callaway

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Sun Up Reflections......by Reid Callaway
The Bridges of Chattanooga Tennessee

I captured this image in Chattanooga, TN. This is the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge in the foreground with the Chief John Ross Bridge just behind it. Both beautiful bridge can be clearly seen in the late afternoon just after sundown.

The Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge is actually an old rail road truss style bridge transformed into a pedestrian walkway in the downtown section of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Captured late in the evening just after a group of thunderstorms rolled thru Chattanooga, Tennessee and this beautiful scene emerged. Three bridges can be seen in this one image along with mountains and the many fine hotels and a riverboat that is docked at the shoreline.

Built in 1890, the 2,376 feet (724 m) Walnut Street Bridge was the first to connect Chattanooga, Tennessee's downtown with the North Shore. According to a plaque on the bridge, Edwin Thacher was the chief engineer for the bridge. The bridge's superstructure was assembled by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio, which was a prolific late 19th-century bridge builder. The bridge's substructure was constructed by Neeley, Smith, and Company of Chattanooga. Most of the parts for the bridge were manufactured by Manly Jail Works of Dalton, Georgia and then shipped to the site by rail. The bridge's main spans are pin-connected Pennsylvania through truss spans. The top chord of these truss spans are configured in five sections, making the spans similar to the Camelback truss design. The bridge is historically significant as an extremely long and old example of its type; according to the Historic American Engineering Record: "The bridge was apparently the first non-military highway bridge across the Tennessee River."

The Market Street Bridge, officially referred to as the Chief John Ross Bridge, is a bascule bridge that spans the Tennessee River between downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Northshore District. It carries North Market Street (formerly designated as U.S. Highway 127), and was named in honor of Cherokee Chief John Ross. The bridge was completed in 1917 at a cost of $1 million.

The bridge has concrete arch spans flanking a center draw span, which is a steel truss with double-leaf Scherzer rolling lift bascule mechanism. At the time of its completion in 1917, the 300-foot (91 m) main span was the longest rolling-lift bascule span in the world. Vehicular traffic originally included streetcars, but streetcar service across the bridge ended in the 1930s. The bridge was formally renamed the Chief John Ross Bridge in 1950.

The bridge closed in 2005 for a renovation, but reopened on August 4, 2007, ahead of its originally scheduled September completion date.

The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 20, 2010.

Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with a population of 167,674 as of the 2010 census, and an estimated population of 171,279 in 2012. It is the seat of Hamilton County. Located in southeastern Tennessee in East Tennessee, on Chickamauga Lake and Nickajack Lake, which are both part of the Tennessee River, Chattanooga lies approximately 120 miles (190 km) to the northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, 120 miles (190 km) to the southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, about 135 miles (217 km) to the southeast of Nashville, Tennessee, about 120 miles (190 km) to the northeast of Huntsville, Alabama, and about 148 miles (238 km) to the northeast of Birmingham, Alabama. Chattanooga abuts the Georgia border and is where three major interstate highways meet: I-24, I-75, and I-59.

The city, which has a downtown elevation of approximately 680 feet (210 m), lies at the transition between the ridge-and-valley portion of the Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau. The city is therefore surrounded by various mountains and ridges. The official nickname for Chattanooga is the Scenic City, being reinforced by the city's growing national reputation as a haven for numerous outdoor activities. Several unofficial nicknames include River City, Chatt, Nooga, Chattown, and Gig City, demonstrating Chattanooga's claims that it has the fastest internet service in the Western Hemisphere.

Chattanooga is internationally known for the 1941 gold record song "Chattanooga Choo Choo," by Glenn Miller and his orchestra.

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May 15th, 2016

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