Six steel truss spans carry the Big Four Bridge across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky, to Jeffersonville, Indiana. Completed in 1895 and rebuilt in 1929, this structure once carried a single railway track for the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway—the “Big Four Railroad” that gives the bridge its name. The entire bridge stretches 2,525 feet with a clearance of 53 feet; its largest single span reaches 547 feet.
Look closely at the steel: the northernmost span is a riveted, eight-panel Parker through truss; the next three spans are 547-foot, riveted, 16-panel Pennsylvania through trusses; and the two southern spans are riveted, 10-panel Parker through trusses. Rail service ended here in 1968, and the original approaches were removed in 1974–1975, a change that earned it the nickname “Bridge That Goes Nowhere. More recently it was converted to bicycle and pedestrian use in 2013, and today access is limited to pedestrian and bicycle use.
Notice the long steel ribs stretching across the Ohio River toward Jeffersonville, where trains once ran.