Bridgehunter.com | Union Trail - Little Sioux River Bridge

Photos

Overview

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

BH Photo #218342

Map

Map Links

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
Railroads: - Illinois Central Railroad (IC)
- Rail-to-trail
Design: 256' Wooden trestle
1-150' Pratt Through Truss (Built 1887)
1-122' Pratt Through Truss (Built 1881, Relocated Here 1911)
137' Wooden Trestle
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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)

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

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.