Rating:
3 votes

Red Bridge

Dubuque County, Iowa
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Photos 

Photo taken by Joe Trnka

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Map 

Facts 

Overview
Pratt through truss bridge over Catfish Creek on Railroad
Location
Dubuque County, Iowa
Status
Replaced by a TPG in 2012
History
Built 1896 Lost 2012
Builder
- Charles Frederick Loweth (Chief Engineer)
Design
Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Span length: 175.0 ft.
Total length: 175.0 ft.
Also called
Milwaukee Road Bridge K-96
Catfish Creek Railroad Bridge
CM&StP&P Bridge K-96
Bridge K-96
K-96
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.46817, -90.64469   (decimal degrees)
42°28'05" N, 90°38'41" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/693629/4704446 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Dubuque South
Inventory numbers
Iowa SHPO 33-06088
CM&StP&P RR K-96
Iowa HADB 31-104
BH 52565 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (3,817)
Built 1896 (139)
Built during 1890s (1,555)
Canadian Pacific Railway (236)
Charles Frederick Loweth (6)
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (281)
Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad (177)
Dubuque County, Iowa (60)
Iowa (3,491)
Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad (133)
Lost (10,352)
Lost 2012 (136)
Lost during 2010s (679)
 Owned by railroad (4,034)
Pin-connected (1,519)
Pratt through truss (3,162)
Pratt truss (5,654)
Railroad (4,054)
Replaced by new bridge (7,131)
Riveted (1,011)
Span length 175-250 feet (1,482)
Through truss (9,200)
Total length 175-250 feet (2,788)
Truss (23,559)
Wooden deck (5,397)

Update Log 

  • February 23, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added chief engineer
  • October 18, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
  • September 5, 2012: New photos from Luke Harden
  • September 4, 2012: New photos from Luke Harden
  • September 3, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Updated status to lost. Bridge was replaced with a DPG last week.
  • August 26, 2012: New photo from Luke Harden
  • May 27, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Bridge is doomed

Sources 

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Comments 

Red Bridge
Posted September 5, 2012, by Mike Boehne (mikebon088 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Wild guess, 200-300 tons.

It's a railroad bridge, and it's had 116 years of locomotives and freight cars crossing it. Freight cars are heavier and trains are faster than they were when it was built--there's a lot of railroad trusses that didn't last half that long, especially if it's a mainline bridge.

Red Bridge
Posted September 4, 2012, by Fmiser (fmiser [at] gmail [dot] com)

Yeah, quite sad. There are plenty of bridges that are collapsing on themselves from neglect - and here's one that is sound enough it's removed in one piece.

On a side note, any idea approximately how much a bridge like that might weigh?

Red Bridge
Posted September 3, 2012, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

This is so stupid. They hauled the bridge away IN ONE PIECE! How hard would it be to simply set it down in a park somewhere? http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Dubuque-Loses-Historic-Bridge-168057216.html