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N&W Champaign Branch Boneyard Creek Bridge

Champaign County, Illinois
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Description 

This bridge is located on the former Champaign branch of the Wabash Railroad, originally built in 1881 to connect Sidney with the Illinois Central Railroad in Champaign.

Illinois Traction also used this track north of Main Street by 1938. The line was abandoned by Norfolk Southern in 1981.

The bridge has undergone extensive renovations to be fit for pedestrian use, as part of the Boneyard Creek Improvements Project, which was completed in November 2014.

Brief history 

Written by James Holzmeier

The original 154' 1881 pile trestle at this location was given Wabash Bridge #3127, when the bridge was on the old Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad's Sidney to Havana line. According to Wabash RR records, in 1898 the original trestle was renewed with a 7-span timber stringer on piles; 109' in length. At that time, it was given Wabash Bridge #464, coinciding with the renumbering of bridges on the Sidney-Urbana branch line. At an unknown date, Bridge #464 was renewed with the last DPG span, quite possibly when Co. Rd. 1350E (Race St) extended across the tracks at this location. That would've shortened the total length of the bridge from 109' to its final 75' (or thereabouts) length.

Facts 

Overview
Deck plate girder bridge over Boneyard Creek on Wabash, later N&W Railway in Urbana
Location
Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois
Status
Open to pedestrian traffic
History
Original 154' pile trestle bridge at this location built 1881; replaced by 108' pile trestle bridge in 1898; replaced by this DPG bridge at an unknown date; abandoned ca. 1981 account of line abandonment
Builder
- Unknown
Railroads
- Illinois Traction System (ITS)
- Interurban
- Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W)
- Wabash Railroad (WAB)
Design
Main span: Deck plate girder
Approaches: Timber stringer
Dimensions
Total length: 75.0 ft.
Deck width: 10.0 ft.
Also called
Wabash Railroad Bridge #3127 (1881-1898)
Wabash Railroad Bridge #3127 (1881-1898)
Wabash Railroad Bridge #464 (1898-1981)
Approximate latitude, longitude
+40.11478, -88.20845   (decimal degrees)
40°06'53" N, 88°12'30" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/397018/4441197 (zone/easting/northing)
Inventory number
BH 62247 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (6,118)
Beam (11,592)
Built 1898 (257)
Built during 1890s (2,442)
Champaign County, Illinois (37)
Deck girder (4,403)
Girder (7,780)
Illinois (3,826)
Illinois Traction System (28)
Interurban (767)
 Norfolk & Western Railway (296)
Open to pedestrians (3,490)
Owned by city (4,444)
Plate girder (5,980)
Railroad (12,943)
Timber stringer (3,298)
Total length 75-100 feet (5,860)
Unknown (32)
Urbana, Illinois (3)
Wabash Railroad (542)

Update Log 

  • December 20, 2014: Essay added by James Holzmeier
  • November 10, 2014: Updated by James Holzmeier: Updated description
  • August 14, 2014: New photos from Jacob P. Bernard
  • August 4, 2014: New photos from Jacob P. Bernard

Sources 

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Comments 

N&W Champaign Branch Boneyard Creek Bridge
Posted November 29, 2014, by Jacob P. Bernard

The major reconstructions of the bridge included the new east abutment and covering the timber pilings in concrete. Beside those and other additions including a new deck, hand railings, lighting, etc., the original bridge was left mostly intact.

Although the railroad was built in 1881, I believe that the original timber pile bridge was replaced with this bridge sometime around 1900-1910, possibly when Illinois Traction first started using the track.

N&W Champaign Branch Boneyard Creek Bridge
Posted November 10, 2014, by James Holzmeier (wabashry [at] gmail [dot] com)

Jacob Bernard: is the new pedestrian bridge simply constructed as a shell, around the old RR bridge? James Holzmeier, Wabash RR Historical Society