Rating:
3 votes

DM&E - Red Bridge

Dubuque County, Iowa

Photos 

Photo taken by Joe Trnka

Enlarge

BH Photo #238660

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 of Cleveland, Ohio (Chief Engineer)
Railroads
- Canadian Pacific Railway (CP)
- Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (MILW; CMStP&P; CMStP)
- Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad (DME)
- Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad (ICE)
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
MILW - Red Bridge
K-96
Red Bridge
MILW Catfish Creek Bridge
DM&E Catfish Creek Bridge
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)
Quadrangle 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 (6,886)
Built 1896 (253)
Built during 1890s (2,746)
Canadian Pacific Railway (505)
Catfish Creek (Dubuque County, Iowa) (18)
Charles Frederick Loweth (26)
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (952)
Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad (321)
Dubuque County, Iowa (109)
Iowa (6,191)
Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad (208)
Lost (22,281)
Lost 2012 (352)
 Lost during 2010s (2,880)
Owned by railroad (11,104)
Pin-connected (3,697)
Pratt through truss (5,008)
Pratt truss (8,745)
Railroad (14,370)
Replaced by new bridge (14,866)
Riveted (2,052)
Span length 175-250 feet (1,885)
Through truss (14,053)
Total length 175-250 feet (4,061)
Truss (31,245)
Wooden deck (6,003)

Update Log 

  • May 11, 2019: New photo from David Shedlock
  • 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...