Rating:
5 votes

RRVT - Adel Rail Bridge

Dallas County, Iowa

Photos 

Photo taken by Jason Smith in August 2011

Enlarge

BH Photo #208935

Map 

Street View 

Description 

Bridge was originally located at Oxford Junction, Iowa. Two spans were moved here upon abandonment of the Oxford Junction line, and installed in 1941

Facts 

Overview
Pratt pony truss bridge over Raccoon River on Racoon River Valley Trail
Location
Adel, Dallas County, Iowa
Status
Open to pedestrians only
History
Built 1899 for Milwaukee Road in Oxford Junction; Relocated here 1949
Builder
- Lassig Bridge & Iron Works of Chicago, Illinois
Railroads
- Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (MILW; CMStP&P; CMStP)
- Rail-to-trail
Design
2-113' Pratt Pony Trusses
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 113.0 ft.
Total length: 415.0 ft.
Also called
MILW - Adel Bridge
RRVT - Raccoon River Bridge (Adel)
MILW - Raccoon River Bridge (Adel)
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.61537, -94.01236   (decimal degrees)
41°36'55" N, 94°00'44" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/415655/4607567 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Adel
Inventory number
BH 49368 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (6,377)
6-panel truss (567)
Adel, Iowa (7)
Beam (12,741)
Built 1899 (327)
Built during 1890s (2,547)
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (851)
Dallas County, Iowa (75)
Deck girder (4,765)
Girder (8,492)
Have street view (23,499)
Iowa (5,939)
Lassig Bridge & Iron Works (168)
Open to pedestrians (3,649)
Owned by state (14,040)
 Pin-connected (3,488)
Plate girder (6,517)
Pony truss (15,152)
Pratt pony truss (3,220)
Pratt truss (8,159)
Raccoon River (82)
Raccoon River Valley Trail (6)
Rail-to-trail (1,337)
Railroad (13,685)
Relocated (669)
Span length 100-125 feet (4,084)
Timber stringer (3,404)
Total length 250-500 feet (4,701)
Truss (29,800)

Update Log 

  • December 2, 2017: New photos from John Marvig
  • May 19, 2017: New photos from John Marvig
  • October 2, 2016: Updated by John Marvig: Added relocation details
  • September 21, 2014: New photos from Lee Smith
  • April 28, 2014: New Street View added by Luke Harden
  • March 16, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Des Moines, Adel & Western Railway"
  • November 11, 2012: New photos from John Marvig
  • November 10, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
  • August 16, 2011: Updated by Jason Smith: Added more info
  • August 16, 2011: Added by Luke Harden

Related Bridges 

Sources 

  • Luke
  • Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
  • John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Lee Smith - ljsmith_32 [at] hotmail [dot] com
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Comments 

RRVT - Adel Bridge
Posted October 1, 2016, by John Marvig (marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com)

All the substructures of this bridge indicate it was built in 1941. Historic aerial views confirm that the bridge here during the 1930s was a light weight through truss.

I inadvertently stumbled across a pony truss bridge, with the same railroad in Jones County (about half a state away). The pony truss there was abandoned in 1940, and has identical spans to this structure. These pony truss spans are each 6 panels, 113' long and were built by Lassig. These spans are identical in every way.

http://bridgehunter.com/ia/jones/bh60678/

I suspect these trusses were relocated to this location in 1941, after abandonment. The Milwaukee Road was known for relocating truss spans, and reusing them at all costs.

Does anyone have any input on this? I strongly believe the spans at Jones County would have been relocated here in 1941.