Rating:
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Union Trail - Little Sioux River Bridge

Woodbury County, Iowa

Photos 

Overview

http://www.woodburyparks.com/historic.html

http://www.woodburyparks.com/historic.html

BH Photo #218342

Map 

Description 

Bridge has two trusses. The removed span was built in 1887 by Union Bridge Company. In 1911, an 1881 span, also built by Union Bridge Company was added on wooden piers. This span was relocated from an unknown location.

Facts 

Overview
Pratt through truss bridge over Little Sioux River on the Union Bridge Trail
Location
Correctionville, Woodbury County, Iowa
Status
Open to pedestrians
History
Built 1887, 1881 Span Added 1911, Partially Removed Ca. 1999; Converted to Trail 2006
Builder
- Union Bridge Co. of Buffalo, New York & Athens, Pennsylvania
Railroad
- Illinois Central Railroad (IC; ICG (1972-1988))
Design
256' Wooden trestle
1-150' Pratt Through Truss (Built 1887)
1-122' Pratt Through Truss (Built 1881, Relocated Here 1911)
137' Wooden Trestle
----------
All except for 122' Pratt Truss removed after abandonedment in 1977
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 150.0 ft.
Total length: 672.0 ft.
Deck width: 31.0 ft.
Also called
IC - Little Sioux River Bridge #5
IC - Bridge #T22.3
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.46856, -95.79228   (decimal degrees)
42°28'07" N, 95°47'32" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/270446/4705580 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Correctionville
Inventory number
BH 49888 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,567)
8-panel truss (389)
Beam (15,719)
Built 1881 (139)
Built 1887 (217)
Built during 1880s (1,994)
Correctionville, Iowa (6)
Illinois Central Railroad (582)
Iowa (6,502)
Little Sioux River (56)
Open to pedestrians (4,220)
Owned by county (20,784)
Pin-connected (3,902)
 Pratt through truss (5,394)
Pratt truss (9,301)
Preserved (1,187)
Rail-to-trail (1,544)
Railroad (15,426)
Span length 125-175 feet (4,223)
Through truss (15,078)
Timber stringer (4,019)
Total length 500-1000 feet (2,871)
Truss (32,802)
Union Bridge Co. (56)
Woodbury County, Iowa (70)

Update Log 

  • December 14, 2016: Updated by John Marvig: Corrected Build Date
  • March 31, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Illinois Central Railroad"
  • December 16, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
  • April 5, 2012: Updated by Jason Smith: Readjusted the information on the bridge
  • October 23, 2011: Added by James McCray

Sources 

  • James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
  • John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
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Comments 

Union Trail - Little Sioux River Bridge
Posted December 14, 2016, by John Marvig (marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com)

While the built date of 1887 has been commonly held for this structure, it appears that this may not be entirely correct. The remaining truss was built in 1881 by Union Bridge Company, and moved to the current location in 1911. Note the difference between the 1887 span (now demolished) and the 1881 span in Photo #32. The 1887 plaque was later attached during the conversion.

If anyone comes across articles relating to 3+ 122' spans that were removed from somewhere along the Illinois Central system in 1911, please let me know. An additional two identical spans once existed at this location:

http://bridgehunter.com/ia/woodbury/bh51960/

It would be very interesting to find where these spans came from.