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NP - South Fork Willapa River Bridge

Pacific County, Washington

Photos 

South Fork Willapa River Bridge

Photo taken by Michael Goff on August 1, 2009

Enlarge

BH Photo #145797

Map 

Street View 

Description 

Information from NPRHA.org Online Collection

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over South Fork Willapa River on former Northern Pacific Railroad in Raymond
Location
Raymond, Pacific County, Washington
Status
Derelict/abandoned
History
Built 1912
Railroads
- Burlington Northern Railroad (BN)
- Northern Pacific Railway (NP)
Design
Swing warren through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 325.0 ft.
Total length: 432.0 ft.
Also called
Raymond Swing Bridge
Raymond Railroad Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+46.68460, -123.74050   (decimal degrees)
46°41'05" N, 123°44'26" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
10/443372/5170381 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Raymond
Inventory number
BH 43319 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Abandoned (3,927)
Beam (16,884)
Built 1912 (870)
Built during 1910s (9,969)
Burlington Northern Railroad (507)
Center Pivot Swing Span (86)
Have street view (28,903)
Movable (3,115)
Northern Pacific Railway (456)
Owned by state (16,554)
Pacific County, Washington (28)
Railroad (16,457)
 Raymond, Washington (3)
Riveted (2,510)
Span length 250-500 feet (1,259)
Swing (1,562)
Through truss (16,782)
Timber stringer (4,320)
Total length 250-500 feet (5,509)
Truss (35,458)
Warren through truss (1,704)
Warren truss (7,002)
Washington (1,380)
Willapa River (6)

Update Log 

  • January 12, 2021: New photos from Geoff Hubbs
  • January 29, 2020: Updated by John Marvig: Added information from NP bridge records
  • December 22, 2016: New Street View added by Douglas Butler
  • August 24, 2013: New photo from Douglas Butler
  • August 31, 2009: Added by Michael Goff

Sources 

  • Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
  • Douglas Butler
  • John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Geoff Hubbs
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Comments 

NP - South Fork Willapa River Bridge
Posted January 7, 2022, by Garred Giles (gagiles41 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

in November of 1961 I was hired to operate that swing bridge. i was a second year college student at Grays harbor College at the time. the regular operator was going Elk hunting. after my test and hiring by NP in Seattle i was trained by the operator. Operations took place about midnight and ended around 3am. Operating that long of a bridge involved quite a few maneuvers such as jacking the bridge up, start the swing in the correct direction and knowing when to slow down and stop the swing on time at the tracks. drop the jacks. insert the rail guides at each end, then personally go to each end to confirm the guides in place. return to the center and signal the locomotive to proceed. After 3am when the locomotive and cargo returned, i had to swing the bridge to the center for boat traffic. it rained a lot in November.