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4 votes

RI Skunk River Bridge

Washington County, Iowa
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Photos 

Walking SW down the old ROW

The bridge is a good mile or so down the former ROW from the road crossing where I walked in.

Photo taken by Dylan VanAntwerp in March 2013

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Map 

Description 

Note that the track chart does not contain complete info on the bridge, so the design description is only partial, and the total length is off because it only includes the length for the spans included in the track chart.

Facts 

Overview
Lost DPG Bridge over Skunk River on former Rock Island RR
Location
Washington County, Iowa
Status
Removed with piers and abutments remaining
History
Built 1945, abandoned 1980, removed 1983
Design
2 - 70' DPG
4 - 100' DPG
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 100.0 ft.
Total length: 540.0 ft.
Also called
Rock Island Bridge #2540
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.19175, -91.76025   (decimal degrees)
41°11'30" N, 91°45'37" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/603963/4560784 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Brighton
Inventory number
BH 53257 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Built 1945 (184)
Built during 1940s (2,877)
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (430)
Deck girder (2,164)
Girder (3,942)
Iowa (4,053)
Lost (11,126)
Lost 1983 (40)
 Lost during 1980s (469)
Plate girder (2,825)
Railroad (5,594)
Skunk River (72)
Span length 100-125 feet (3,370)
Total length 500-1000 feet (1,884)
Washington County, Iowa (79)

Update Log 

  • August 26, 2013: Updated by Dylan VanAntwerp: Added info from track chart
  • March 29, 2013: New photos from Dylan VanAntwerp
  • January 12, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added build date range and arial imagery link.
  • November 12, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Skunk River", "Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad"
  • August 26, 2012: Updated by Don Morrison: Added category "Railroad"

Related Bridges 

Sources 

  • Don Morrison
  • 1950s Aerial Imagery
  • Luke Harden - lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Dylan VanAntwerp - dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com
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Comments 

RI Skunk River Bridge
Posted March 29, 2013, by Dylan VanAntwerp (dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com)

Just visited the bridge yesterday. There is an absolutely enormous log jam piled up behind the piers here. A person could practically walk across the river on them.