Bridgehunter.com | Dotson Railroad Bridge

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Dotson Railroad Bridge

Overview

Photo taken by John Marvig in January 2013

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History, and Access to the Bridge

Written by John Marvig

Here is what I was told about the bridge.
-Built around or in 1924
-Original Bridge was wood trestle
Used to be lift bridge
Outlaw Jesse James blew up bank near here in Dotson, a now non existant town.

Here is what I observed
The bridge could indeed have been a lift bridge, as the bridge shoes have hinges.
A Tree is growing through the truss structure.
Both the piers have huge scour line across them, and need attention
The Quadrangular truss is very heavily built.
The ties on the east end are almost all loose, and are very beat up.
There are several weeds on the west end that look really nasty.
You COULD drive a 4-wheeler over this bridge.
Go in the fall, winter or spring for the best views, and to get down on the west side.

If you want to go to this bridge, I would drive or walk down the old railbeds. They are public property. There is a trestle on the railbeds, so be aware of that. The railbeds are flattened down by snowmobiles in the winter, making the 1/2 mile walk much easier.

I am going to tell you now, a lot of the photos I have are from private property, and I was on there with permission.

A big thanks to Edward and Jonlee Brown for letting me on your property!!!

Facts

Overview: Quadrangular lattice through truss bridge over Cottonwood River on Abandoned CNW Railroad
Location: Brown County, Minnesota
Status: Derelict/abandoned
History: Built 1924
Design: Quadrangular lattice through truss
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 160.0 ft.
Total length: 442.0 ft.
Also called: CNW Bridge #610
CNW Cottonwood River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude: +44.20035, -95.07753 (decimal degrees)
44°12'01" N, 95°04'39" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 15/333996/4896224 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map: Sanborn NE
Inventory number: BH 51271 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

January 26, 2013: New photos from John Marvig
August 10, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Added category "railroad"
February 17, 2012: Essay added by John Marvig
February 12, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Added categories "Skewed", "Abandoned"

Sources

John Marvig - johnmarvig [at] chaska [dot] net
John Marvig's CNW Cottonwood River Bridge page - A page with many unique and interesting photos and info about this bridge