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BNSF - West Branch Floyd River Bridge

Sioux County, Iowa

Photos 

BNSF W. Branch Floyd River Bridge

Overview of entire structure

Photo taken by John Marvig in September 2021

Enlarge

BH Photo #508613

Map 

Street Views 

Description 

Unique bridge, featuring three separate through girder spans, that were moved here in 1944.

Facts 

Overview
Pony/through plate girder bridge over West Branch Floyd River on BNSF Railway
Location
Sioux County, Iowa
Status
Open to traffic
Future prospects
Replacement work on part or all of this structure is ongoing as of September 2021
History
Built 1944 using secondhand girders
Railroads
- BNSF Railway (BNSF)
- Great Northern Railway (GN)
Design
6 Span Trestle
1-60' Through Girder
38 Span Trestle
2-40' Through Girder
11 Span Trestle
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 60.0 ft.
Total length: 912.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.99526, -96.17988   (decimal degrees)
42°59'43" N, 96°10'48" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
14/729887/4764148 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Maurice
Inventory number
BH 56436 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

BNSF Railway (1,618)
Beam (17,369)
Built 1944 (121)
Built during 1940s (4,289)
Doomed (1,099)
Floyd River (Iowa) (32)
Girder (11,641)
Great Northern Railway (399)
Have street view (30,403)
Iowa (6,865)
 Open (41,427)
Owned by railroad (14,124)
Plate girder (9,152)
Railroad (16,990)
Sioux County, Iowa (38)
Span length 50-75 feet (10,678)
Through girder (4,376)
Timber stringer (4,471)
Total length 500-1000 feet (3,200)

Update Log 

  • September 29, 2021: Updated by John Marvig: added information, noted replacement
  • December 1, 2016: New photo from Dylan VanAntwerp
  • June 1, 2013: Updated by John Marvig: Added category "railroad"
  • May 31, 2013: Added by Luke Harden

Sources 

  • Luke
  • Dylan VanAntwerp - dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com
  • John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
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Comments 

BNSF - West Branch Floyd River Bridge
Posted September 29, 2021, by John Marvig (marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Replacement on this unusual bridge is ongoing as of September 2021. I am not sure how much will be replaced..new approaches have been installed on the south end, and the north end has new piles driven for approaches. A single pile has been driven under the north span.

The three girders at this bridge are all slightly different with modifications. I suspect that these girders were all moved here.

BNSF - West Branch Floyd River Bridge
Posted May 5, 2017, by Anonymous

This is such a neat bridge.