Rating:
5 votes

DM&E Iowa River Bridge (Tyson Spur)

Louisa County, Iowa
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Photos 

Photo taken by Dave Sebben

View this photo on Flickr

Map 

Street Views 

Description 

Part of the bridge's trestles collapsed in 2008 when four tanker cars filled with water, which had been set on the bridge in hopes to secure the bridge, were bring removed. The floodwater was (apparently) too much for the trestle, causing it to collapse, thus dumping the four cars and the locomotive use into the water. Rails were removed in 2011, marking the official end of service for the bridge.

Facts 

Overview
Partially collapsed bridge over Iowa River on CP trackage
Location
Columbus Junction, Louisa County, Iowa
Status
Approach trestle destroyed by flood. Rails have been removed
History
Built 1894, Approach Collapsed 2008, expected to be converted to trail
Design
Parker through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 155.0 ft.
Total length: 975.0 ft.
Also called
IC&E Iowa River Bridge
MILW Iowa River Bridge
BCR&N Iowa River Bridge
RI Iowa River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.29153, -91.35968   (decimal degrees)
41°17'29" N, 91°21'35" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/637345/4572417 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Columbus Junction
Inventory number
BH 48845 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (3,819)
Abandoned (1,371)
Beam (6,040)
Built 1894 (136)
Built during 1890s (1,556)
Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway (20)
Canadian Pacific Railway (237)
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (281)
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (335)
Columbus Junction, Iowa (8)
Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad (178)
Have street view (9,883)
I&M Rail Link (85)
Iowa (3,499)
Iowa River (60)
 Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad (133)
Louisa County, Iowa (29)
Owned by railroad (4,037)
Parker through truss (947)
Parker truss (1,267)
Pin-connected (1,519)
Railroad (4,068)
Skewed (4,080)
Soo Line Railroad (127)
Span length 125-175 feet (2,954)
Through truss (9,205)
Timber stringer (1,855)
Total length 500-1000 feet (1,805)
Truss (23,565)

Update Log 

  • March 25, 2013: New Street View added by Clark Vance
  • March 24, 2013: Updated by John Marvig: Added build date
  • February 14, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Edited description.
  • January 29, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway"
  • December 30, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
  • June 18, 2012: Updated by Owen McCormick: Rails have been removed.
  • September 13, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Added Streetview
  • June 3, 2011: Added by Luke Harden

Sources 

  • Luke Harden - lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Image from the deck
  • Owen McCormick
  • Dylan VanAntwerp - dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com
  • John Marvig - johnmarvig [at] chaska [dot] net
  • Clark Vance - cvance [at] dogmail [dot] com
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Comments 

DM&E Iowa River Bridge
Posted March 6, 2013, by Luke Harden (lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Hopefully it can become part of the Hoover Trail in the future.

DM&E Iowa River Bridge
Posted March 6, 2013, by Dylan VanAntwerp (dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com)

According to what I've ascertained, Tyson Foods actually owns the bridge.

DM&E Iowa River Bridge
Posted February 14, 2013, by Dylan VanAntwerp (dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com)

I have to add a correction to the description. The locomotive was NOT placed on the bridge to help hold it down. Locomotives are too valuable to be placed in danger like that. According to the news reports there were four tanker cars, all filled with water, which were placed on the bridge to try and secure it. The train crew with the locomotive was on the bridge trying to pull the cars off when the wooden approach trestle gave way.