The Levisa Fork Railroad Bridge is an abandoned railroad crossing over the Levisa Fork in Pike County, Kentucky.
The Levisa Fork Railroad Bridge was erected by the Pencoyd Bridge & Construction Company in 1894 and originally crossed over the mouth of the Big Sandy River between Kenova, West Virginia, and Catlettsburg, Kentucky along the mainline of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O). 1 The bridge proved insufficient to carry the C&O’s Allegheny class locomotives because of the articulation and weight, and the Big Sandy River crossing was reconstructed beginning in 1943 when the main spans over the river were replaced with Warren through truss spans fabricated by the Virginia Bridge & Iron Company of Roanoke, Virginia. 2
The original c. 1894 truss spans were relocated to serve the newly christened C&O Levisa Subdivision in Pike County. 3 It consisted of a 158-foot Parker through truss, two 219-foot Pratt camelback through trusses, and an 80-foot plate girder. The plate girder span, which had been fabricated in 1922, was replaced around 2011.
The Levisa Fork Railroad Bridge remained in use until 2017 when the last coal loadout closed. The tracks were removed in 2021.
Information
- State: Kentucky, West Virginia
- Route: Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad
- Type: Parker Through Truss, Pennsylvania Through Truss
- Status: Abandoned / Closed
- Main Span Length: 219 feet
- Spans:
- Span 1: 158′ Parker through truss
- Span 2: 219′ Pratt camelback through truss
- Span 3: 219′ Pratt camelback through truss
- Span 4: 79′ 10″ plate girder
Sources
- Young, Everett N. “The Big Sandy Subdivision.” Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Newsletter, Oct. 1993, pp. 3-12.
- Holth, Nathan. “Big Sandy Junction Railroad Bridge.” Historic Bridges, 7 Jun. 2014.
- LaBreche, Dennis. “A History of the Levisa Subdivision.” Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Newsletter, Nov. 1983, pp. 10-13.