Rating:
6 votes

Red Bridge

Polk County, Iowa

Photos 

Photo taken by Jason Mrachina

License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)

View this photo on Flickr

BH Photo #231692

Map 

Street Views 

Facts 

Overview
Pratt Through Truss Bridge over Des Moines River on Principal Riverwalk
Location
Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa
Status
Open to pedestrian traffic
History
Built 1891; One truss span lost due to collision with a shifted flatcar load 1944; Abandoned in 1995; Converted to trail use in 2006; Raised 2016-17
Builders
- Des Moines Bridge & Iron Co./Works of Des Moines, Iowa (West Girder)
- Detroit Bridge & Iron Works of Detroit, Michigan (Trusses)
- Stanley Consultants of Muscatine, Iowa (Engineers; 2013 Raising)
- Stupp Brothers Bridge & Iron Co. of St. Louis, Missouri (East Girder)
Railroads
- Des Moines Union Railway (DMU)
- Norfolk & Western Railway (NW)
- Wabash Railroad (WAB)
Design
1-45' I-Beam (Non-Authentic Span)
1-68' Steel Girder (Built 1905)
2-155' Pin Connected Pratt Truss Spans (Built 1891)
1-75' Through Plate Girder (Added 1945)
1-20' I-Beam (Added 1945)
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 155.0 ft.
Total length: 527.0 ft.
Also called
N&W - Des Moines River Bridge
DMU - Des Moines River Bridge
Union Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.58525, -93.61639   (decimal degrees)
41°35'07" N, 93°36'59" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/448622/4603911 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Des Moines SE
Inventory number
BH 49358 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (9,021)
Beam (17,101)
Built 1891 (247)
Built during 1890s (3,278)
Des Moines Bridge & Iron Co./Works (14)
Des Moines River (239)
Des Moines Union Railway (2)
Des Moines, Iowa (122)
Detroit Bridge & Iron Works (76)
Girder (11,344)
Have street view (29,851)
Historic Bridge Weekend 2013 (145)
Iowa (6,818)
Lally columns (371)
Norfolk & Western Railway (651)
Open to pedestrians (4,627)
Owned by city (6,162)
 Painted red (71)
Pin-connected (5,031)
Plate girder (8,875)
Polk County, Iowa (283)
Pratt through truss (6,227)
Pratt truss (10,531)
Rail-to-trail (1,661)
Railroad (16,665)
Span length 125-175 feet (4,492)
Stanley Consultants (2)
Steel stringer (6,805)
Stupp Brothers Bridge & Iron Co. (98)
Through girder (4,268)
Through truss (17,796)
Total length 500-1000 feet (3,132)
Truss (36,690)
Wabash Railroad (594)

Update Log 

  • March 23, 2021: Updated by John Marvig: added information from site report
  • June 27, 2018: New photo from John Bernhisel
  • January 6, 2018: New photos from Daniel Barnes
  • October 19, 2017: New photos from John Marvig
  • April 9, 2016: Updated by Luke: Updated history
  • October 19, 2015: New photos from John Marvig
  • September 9, 2015: New photos from Luke
  • November 7, 2014: Updated by James Holzmeier: Added 3 photos of bridge
  • May 5, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Painted red"
  • October 31, 2013: New Street View added by Luke Harden
  • September 12, 2013: New photos from Jason Smith
  • March 2, 2013: Updated by John Marvig: added correct build date as given by contractor article
  • December 21, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
  • November 12, 2012: New photos from John Marvig
  • July 27, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Built ca.1886 when the Des Moines Union railway was built
  • July 23, 2012: New photos from John Marvig
  • July 22, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
  • July 2, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added abandonment date to the history.
  • June 24, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Des Moines Union Railway"
  • October 7, 2011: New photo from Luke Harden
  • September 19, 2011: Updated by Jason Smith: This is a combination of two spans of Pratt through truss and multiple span pony girders
  • August 22, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: changed name and added approach info
  • August 15, 2011: Added by Luke Harden

Sources 

  • Luke
  • Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
  • John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • James Holzmeier - wabashry [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Daniel Barnes
  • John Bernhisel - Johnmbernhisel [at] gmail [dot] com
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Comments 

Red Bridge
Posted June 18, 2017, by Roger Deschner (rogerdeschner [at] gmail [dot] com)

The Red Bridge in Des Moines is "high"lighted (pun intended) in this Associated Press article, which has been published in a number of newspapers today such as the Chicago Tribune. It reports on a number of bridges that are being raised in inland areas of the country due to increasing flood risk.

https://apnews.com/552ec81f352f475ba2c80624d8a720f8/Climate-...

Red Bridge
Posted November 7, 2014, by James Holzmeier (wabashry [at] gmail [dot] com)

None of the Wabash Railroad documents I have list this bridge as having a Wabash bridge number, because the bridge was technically under the ownership of the Des Moines Union Ry. (co-owned by the Wabash & MILW railroads), but...what I do have shows this bridge having a total length of 556 feet. "Pile Trestle-E. Approach, Thro' Trusses, Deck Girder-W. Approach" is what's listed. This bridge is strikingly similar to Wabash Bridge #2891 over the Des Moines River north of Harvey, IA. That bridge was built in 1890 so, I would presume the build date of this bridge is correct.