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BNSF Red River of the North Bridge

Polk County, Minnesota, and Grand Forks County, North Dakota
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Photos 

Grand Forks Bridge

From North Dakota

Photo taken by John Marvig in July 2012

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Map 

Facts 

Overview
Pony/through girder bridge over Red River of the North on BNSF Railway
Location
Grand Forks, Polk County, Minnesota, and Grand Forks County, North Dakota
Status
Open to traffic
History
Swing pier built 1885, approach Through plate girder span built 1918, main Through Plate Girder spans built 1924, east approaches built 1956, west approaches built 2005
Builders
- American Bridge Co. of New York
- Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Design
From east to West:
10 spans of I-beam approach-built 1956
2 spans of Small Through Plate Girder-built 1918
2 spans of Larger Through Plate Girder, over a swing pier-built 1924
1 span small Through Plate Girder-built 1918
8 spans Cement beam/coreslab built 2005
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 95.0 ft.
Total length: 1,042.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+47.92523, -97.02597   (decimal degrees)
47°55'31" N, 97°01'33" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
14/647463/5309876 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Grand Forks
Inventory number
BH 49435 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

American Bridge Co. (449)
Ballasted Deck (69)
Beam (6,049)
Built 1924 (494)
Built during 1920s (7,033)
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (465)
Concrete stringer (271)
East Grand Forks, Minnesota (2)
Girder (3,239)
Grand Forks County, North Dakota (33)
Grand Forks, North Dakota (2)
Great Northern Railway (88)
 Minnesota (917)
North Dakota (447)
Open (28,315)
Owned by railroad (4,046)
Polk County, Minnesota (17)
Railroad (4,075)
Span length 75-100 feet (4,718)
State line crossing (514)
Steel stringer (2,326)
Through girder (1,135)
Total length 1000-2500 feet (1,217)
Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Co. (67)

Update Log 

  • February 13, 2013: New photos from John Marvig
  • July 7, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Updated dates, history and buildera
  • August 28, 2011: Added by John Marvig

Sources 

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Comments 

BNSF Red River of the North Bridge
Posted September 16, 2011, by John Marvig (johnmarvig [at] chaska [dot] net)

Yes, like others over the red river, this one used to be a swing bridge. I can't find the picture now but it was a steel truss bridge.

BNSF Red River of the North Bridge
Posted August 28, 2011, by Robert Thompson

There are a number of swing bridges on the Red River of the North, from the mouth at Lake Winnepeg south to Fargo. I've only eyeballed them with Google Earth, but I'm unable to get to that area myself. Have at 'em, Tony...

BNSF Red River of the North Bridge
Posted August 28, 2011, by Tony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

There was likely (originally) a through truss swing at this location, and when the present bridge was installed the swing mechanisms were removed.

BNSF Red River of the North Bridge
Posted August 28, 2011, by Robert Thompson

The round center pier usually indicates that it was built as a swing bridge. But there is none of the hardware that would indicate that this bridge ever was a swing bridge.