This is a good view of an interesting historic railroad swing bridge over the Grand River in Grand Rapids, MI. Pictures don’t do it justice. It is a massive iron structure. A free parking lot is nearby at the corner of Wealthy St. and Market Ave.
It was built in 1903 for the Pere Marquette Railroad. The center span was hand cranked to rotate 90° on the round pier allowing steamboats to pass. The fixed spans on either side were built at different times possibly as replacements due to damage or changes made to the river channel. Riverboat traffic was discontinued in 1907 and it was no longer necessary for the bridge to swing open. The bridge originally carried double tracks but only one remains today. It is still in use by Amtrak and CSX trains.
Looking down from the Wealthy St. bridge you can see the old, submerged pilings where the river was dredged for the riverboats. There is also a fair amount of wildlife in the area.
*** Please post a picture (required by geo-rules) of you or your GPS in front of the bridge.
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.