| Kuokkalankoski railroad bridge, Lempäälä |
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The sc. Hollo's curve in Lempäälä was one bottleneck limiting the driving speeds on Ri-Tpe route section, one of the country's busiest. In the year 2002 the new straight 2.3 km section was finished, and among old railroad one bridge became useless. At the moment it crosses the stream, but in near future it may be scrapped since it's only in pedestrian use now.
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Twin tracks. The walking lane on the left side is still open for pedestrians, railway parts are fenced. |
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You can see that the bridge is not very high. The route has been electrified with 25 kV, and the high voltage conductors should fit inside the bridge tunnel above the train. Something that the designers didn't think of. |
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Nice basic bridge look. |
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No matter what Stephen King movie you saw, it is definitely safe to walk this bridge. |
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They didn't wait for long with deconstructing the railway. Some week after the curve retired they had removed the high voltage conductors, poles and the tracks. |
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The beams are bolted. Exact age of the bridge is unknown, but it must be quite high, since it's probably original in this route which was built in 19th century. |
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Wide open to the sky.. |
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If someone is stupid enough to go climbing near a hot conductor, would this kind of plate keep him away? |
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Railroad deconstructers have left a few pieces of iron here and there to the former track route. |
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Action photo as seen from a new car bridge. H230 drives the straightened Hollo route in July 2004. |
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