While extremely narrow and dangerous, Old Loudon Bridge, built in 1929 (see link below) over the Tennessee River right in the city of Loudon was quite a beautiful asset to the city. The replacement? Another plain, boring modern bridge completely out of character with the town. While these photos are not of the best quality, I was determined to get what I could before the bridge was gone. It was closed and demolished literally weeks after I took these photos. More information on the old bridge may be found at this page. All photos here taken August 14, 2005.
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Signs approaching the bridge warn of the hazardous conditions ahead. This bridge was not for the faint of heart with its 10' lanes and open railing giving a clear view of the Tennessee River swelled by Watts Bar Lake. |
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Climbing Loudon Bridge northbound, you see clearly that the roadway is extremely narrow. Guardrails were attached to the railing to make the concrete rails less likely to give way if hit. |
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This unfortunately crooked shot shows detail of the trusses, which numbered five or six. Note the latticed railing behind the guardrail, which was typical TDOT standard on trusses of that day. |
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Further along driving north across the truss section. |
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Touching back down on the northern portal of the bridge. |
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Looking on the south portal between quaint old and ugly new. Here you see some detail of the piers and girters. |
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Side detail of all the trusses from the new bridge. |
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Here is more detail of the new bridge, which is nearly finished. Laying on the new bridge is the remains of a pedestrian walkway that skirted the southbound lanes on the old bridge. What a shame. |
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Looking almost directly onto the old bridge from the new bridge with detail of the old bridge railing. |
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More detail of the old bridge at a slightly different angle. |
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Side view of the bridge from the street below. RIP Old Loudon Bridge. |
