UP - Hoffman Swing Bridge
Description
The St. Paul Bridge & Terminal Railway built the bridge between 1909 and 1910. It was leased to the Chicago Great Western in 1935. The CGW merged with the Chicago & North Western in 1968, and the bridge became Union Pacific property when it purchased the C&NW in 1995.Facts
- Overview
- Warren through truss bridge over Mississippi River on Union Pacific Railroad
- Location
- St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, and Dakota County, Minnesota
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1909-10 for St. Paul Bridge & Terminal Railway; East Approach Added 1924-5, Swing Span Rebuilt 1956
- Builders
- - American Bridge Co. of New York (1910 Truss)
- Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Deck Girders)
- Railroads
- - Chicago & North Western Railway (CNW)
- Chicago Great Western Railway (CGW)
- St. Paul Bridge & Terminal Railway (StPB&T)
- Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
- Design
- Warren through truss center pivot swing span with pratt truss and deck plate girder approaches.
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 401.0 ft.
Total length: 1,275.0 ft.
- Also called
- CGW - Mississippi River Bridge
UP - Mississippi River Bridge
CGW - Hoffman Swing Bridge
Pig's Eye Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +44.91883, -93.05013 (decimal degrees)
44°55'08" N, 93°03'00" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/496043/4973934 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Saint Paul East
- Inventory number
- BH 53749 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- November 26, 2021: Updated by John Marvig: added builder
- April 4, 2018: New photos from John Marvig
- October 31, 2017: Updated by Alexander D. Mitchell IV: Expanded history
- March 28, 2014: New photos from John Marvig
- October 9, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
- October 4, 2012: New photos from John Marvig
- October 3, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
- October 3, 2012: Added by John Marvig
Sources
- John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Alexander D. Mitchell IV
- Douglas Butler
- Engineering Record, Building Record and Sanitary Engineer - Google Books
- Railway Age - Google Books
Comments
http://trn.trains.com/~/media/images/news-wire/2017/10-octob...
Looks like this bridge took some serious damage from the collision earlier this fall...
The Swing Span does look newer. Never noticed that before.
The span was not likely renovated in 1982, as a lift span would have likely been put in instead. So I cannot say when it was renovated. The historic aerial photos of the area are poor quality.
Wikipedia gives the dates of rehabilitation of 1925, 1951 and 1982. I would put my money on the last date though. It is odd, especially for this area, that a bridge built in 1910 wouldn't last until this date.
Odd case.
The approach spans may date to 1910, but the main swing span is clearly new. Anyone know the exact year? John Week's website says work was done many times, most recently in 1982, but I am not sure what date the swing span was replaced.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/mn/ramsey/hoffman-swing/
I found a file with an Authorization For Expenditure (AFE) dated 1956 regarding the modern swing span on this bridge, from the Chicago & North Western Railway Historical Society:
============
description - Reconctruction of swing span of Mississippi River Bridge at So. St. Paul, Minnesota.
description-additional - The old center pier was underminde by flooding to extent that bridge was unsafe for operation & complete swing span has to be removed to permit navigation.
description-continued - Center pier replacement covered by AFE-11575.
orignial estimated cost - $535,578.94
work started - 1954/07/01
work completed - 1956/11/30
completed net estimated cost - $535,578.94
remarks-1 - dept J-2349
remarks-2 - see AFE notes
- - - - -
note-1 per "details of estimated cost" pages attached to the AFE:: Construct a 400-Ft steel thru truss swing span complete with new deck, electrically operated turning machinery, operators house & machinery house replacing old 400-Ft steel swing span with engine driven turning machinery.