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UP Wapsipinicon River Bridge

Clinton County, Iowa
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Photos 

Photo taken by RLB1993

View this photo on Flickr

Map 

History of the Bridge 

Written by Jason Smith

This bridge may be the site of the first Thacher through truss bridge that was designed and patented by Edwin Thacher in 1881. A Thacher truss features a combination of either a Warren and Pratt configuration or a configuration of a Warren and Stearns truss. The middle panel of the truss span features an equalateral A-frame design. According to Donald Jackson, the first bridge was a 147 foot long structure built over the Wapsipinicion River for the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad in 1881. As this line was acquired by Rock Island Railroad in 1903 and later by Chicago and Northwestern due to the railroad's receivership proceedings, plus given the geographical formations of the region south and east of Cedar Rapids, it is highly likely that the first Thacher Truss Bridge was built at this site, although it is unclear when it was replaced, let alone when this bridge (the current structure) was built.

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over Wapsipinicon River on Railroad
Location
Clinton County, Iowa
Status
Open to traffic
Design
2 Span Quadrangular lattice through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 167.0 ft.
Total length: 322.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.82702, -90.81226   (decimal degrees)
41°49'37" N, 90°48'44" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/681678/4632884 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Wheatland
Inventory number
BH 53593 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

A-frame portal (232)
Chicago & North Western Railway (470)
Clinton County, Iowa (37)
Iowa (3,506)
Lattice through truss (198)
Lattice truss (265)
M-frame portal (30)
Open (28,313)
Owned by railroad (4,046)
 Quadrangular lattice through truss (80)
Railroad (4,075)
Span length 125-175 feet (2,954)
Through truss (9,210)
Total length 250-500 feet (3,371)
Truss (23,574)
Union Pacific Railroad (793)
Wapsipinicon River (40)

Update Log 

  • January 30, 2013: New photo from Luke Harden
  • November 8, 2012: Essay added by Jason Smith
  • November 7, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
  • September 21, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
  • September 21, 2012: Added by Luke Harden

Related Bridges 

Sources 

  • Luke Harden - lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • John Marvig - johnmarvig [at] chaska [dot] net
  • Image
  • Jason Smith - JDSmith77 [at] gmx [dot] net

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