Rating:
2 votes

IR - Rockford Rail-Trail Bridge

Winnebago County, Illinois

Photos 

Overview Looking Southeast

Photo taken by J.R. Manning in July 2011

BH Photo #204645

Map 

Description 

Relocated from unknown location. Western girder built 1896, remaining spans unconfirmed.

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over Rock River on former Illinois RailNet
Location
Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois
Status
Open to pedestrians only
History
Built 1890s, Relocated Here 1916-1918; Converted to Trail Use 2016
Builder
- King Bridge Co. of Cleveland, Ohio
Railroads
- Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CBQ)
- Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (MILW)
- Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad (DME)
- Illinois Central Railroad (IC; ICG (1972-1988))
- Illinois RailNet (IR)
Design
5 spans of through truss 1 deck plate girder on East end
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 150.0 ft.
Total length: 915.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.26491, -89.09565   (decimal degrees)
42°15'54" N, 89°05'44" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/327161/4681315 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Rockford North
Inventory number
BH 41899 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,567)
7-panel truss (373)
Built 1896 (273)
Built during 1890s (2,984)
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (533)
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (1,025)
Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad (342)
Deck girder (5,745)
Girder (10,234)
Illinois (4,647)
Illinois Central Railroad (582)
Illinois RailNet (14)
King Bridge Co. (360)
Open to pedestrians (4,215)
 Owned by city (5,399)
Pin-connected (3,901)
Plate girder (7,923)
Pratt through truss (5,390)
Pratt truss (9,297)
Railroad (15,414)
Rock River (Wisconsin-Illinois) (84)
Rockford, Illinois (41)
Skewed (4,906)
Span length 125-175 feet (4,220)
Through truss (15,062)
Total length 500-1000 feet (2,871)
Truss (32,784)
Winnebago County, Illinois (71)

Update Log 

  • June 21, 2019: New photos from John Marvig
  • December 18, 2017: Updated by John Marvig: Added Build Date
  • April 11, 2017: New photos from Anthony
  • March 1, 2017: New photos from Anthony
  • February 23, 2017: Updated by Anthony: Updated status to reflect current use.
  • April 3, 2015: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
  • April 3, 2012: Updated by Steve Conro: Corrected railroad name
  • November 23, 2011: New photos from Steve Conro
  • July 20, 2011: New photos from J.R. Manning
  • March 29, 2009: Added by Kim Harvey

Related Bridges 

Sources 

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Comments 

IR - Rock River Bridge
Posted May 8, 2016, by Anonymous

At the western edge of the Milwaukee Road bridge in Rockford is a rock where a plaque used to be. The base says 1964. Does anyone know what the plaque commemorated?

IR - Rock River Bridge
Posted November 25, 2014, by John Marvig (marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Confirmed this line and bridge was Chicago, Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific, now abandoned awaiting trail development.

IR - Rock River Bridge
Posted May 3, 2014, by Brian (FCVPI99 [at] GMAIL [dot] COM)

this is not a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy ether although Chicago, Burlington & Quincy use it also but it was Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific as per all maps i could find

Rockford CNRR Rock River Bridge
Posted December 1, 2011, by Mike (mschaf4001 [at] earthlink [dot] net)

This is not the Canadian National bridge; the through-truss bridge shown here originally belonged to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (later, Burlington Northern). It is currently owned by the Illinois Railway and also used by Canadian PACIFIC's Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railraod. This bridge is slated to be closed to rail traffic in 2012, with trains being rerouted around it on the Illinois Central (now CNRR) bridge a short distance to the south.

Side note: The CB&Q through-truss bridge shown here replaced a covered bridge, probably in the late 1800s. Covered railroad bridges were extremely rare in the Midwest.