Bridgehunter.com | CM - Judith River Trestle

Photos

Looking west at the bridge and missing span

Photo taken by Nathan Morton in May 2014

BH Photo #283316

Map

Description

The bridge was severely damaged by flooding in spring of 2011. The swollen Judith River flood waters caused a section to shift and settle, badly twisting and distorting the bridge and causing $3.5 million in damage. The railroad is a small non-profit and is unable to afford the repair. Help has so far not been forthcoming, and the bridge and the entire line's fate is hanging in the balance.

Facts

Overview: Massive steel trestle with timber stringer/concrete arch approaches over Judith River on Central Montana Railway
Location: Fergus County, Montana
Status: Closed due to severe flood damage
History: Original bridge design plans dated 1912. Built ca. 1915, severly damaged in spring 2011 flood
Builder: - J. H. Prior (Engineer of Design)
Railroads: - Burlington Northern Railroad (BN)
- Central Montana Railway (CM)
- Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (MILW; CMStP&P; CMStP)
Design: Deck plate girder
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 69.7 ft.
Total length: 1,953.0 ft.
Also called: MILW Judith River Trestle
Judith River Viaduct
Approximate latitude, longitude: +47.17068, -109.64946 (decimal degrees)
47°10'14" N, 109°38'58" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 12/602347/5225016 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:: Danvers
Inventory number: BH 56301 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

October 1, 2014: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added designer and span length.
May 9, 2014: New photos from Nathan Morton
May 20, 2013: Updated by Dylan VanAntwerp: Added category "Ballasted Deck"

Sources

Dylan VanAntwerp - dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com
Chris Guenzler
Great Falls Tribune - Photo and accompanying news story about flood damage to bridge
Billings Gazette - Photos and news story about the damaged trestle and its affect on the railroad
fema.gov - Brief of Fema's denial of CMR's appeal for federal funding to repair bridge
Nathan Morton - morton890 [at] yahoo [dot] com
Nathan Holth
Historical Article About J. H. Prior

Comments

CM - Judith River Trestle

Posted August 5, 2014, by Jason (jasonla0829 [at] hotmail [dot] com)

This Trestle Appears to have been repaired and all the construction equipment has bee removed

CM Judith River Trestle

Posted January 8, 2014, by Luke Harden (lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com)

It's a repair job:

"The 100-year-old Judith River trestle bridge carries a single freight line over the Judith River and provides the only cost-effective means of shipping agricultural products from numerous small communities. Repairs include rebuilding concrete pier foundations, restoring steel towers and bridge girders, and making related upgrades that will improve the load-carrying capacity of the rail line, as well as providing protection from any similar damage that may be caused by future flooding of the river. "

http://www.eda.gov/news/pressreleases/2013/05/30/mt_rail.htm

CM Judith River Trestle

Posted January 8, 2014, by Nathan Holth (webmaster [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

I found a webcam for this bridge here:

http://video-monitoring.com/construction/mdot/slideshow.htm?...

The presence of a construction webcam and construction equipment visible under the bridge lead one to speculate if this bridge is about to be demolished.