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BN - 15th Street Bridge

Pierce County, Washington

Photos 

Library of Congress

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BH Photo #358255

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Lost Pratt through truss bridge over Foss Waterway on Burlington Northern Railroad
Location
Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington
Status
Removed but not replaced
History
Built 1914; Abandoned 1973 due to damage from an erroneously routed Boeing load, likely removed shortly thereafter.
Builders
- American Bridge Co. of New York
- Gerrick & Gerrick Co. of Seattle, Washington.
Railroads
- Burlington Northern Railroad (BN)
- Northern Pacific Railroad (NP)
Design
Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Vertical clearance above deck: 18.5 ft.
Also called
NP - 15th Street Bridge
NP - Foss Waterway Bridge
BN - Foss Waterway Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+47.25085, -122.43323   (decimal degrees)
47°15'03" N, 122°25'60" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
10/542886/5233196 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Tacoma North
Inventory number
BH 63851 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

American Bridge Co. (1,255)
Beam (12,917)
Built 1914 (738)
Built during 1910s (8,951)
Burlington Northern Railroad (333)
Center Pivot Swing Span (80)
Gerrick & Gerrick Co. (2)
Girder (8,533)
Lost (19,725)
Movable (2,738)
Navigable waterway (2,066)
Northern Pacific Railroad (267)
 Pierce County, Washington (108)
Plate girder (6,536)
Pratt through truss (4,704)
Pratt truss (8,179)
Railroad (13,733)
Swing (1,291)
Tacoma, Washington (34)
Through girder (3,164)
Through truss (13,178)
Timber stringer (3,439)
Truss (29,876)
Washington (1,170)

Update Log 

  • July 11, 2016: New photo from Luke
  • November 20, 2015: New photo from Douglas Butler
  • October 26, 2014: Added by Luke

Related Bridges 

Sources 

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Comments 

BN - 15th Street Bridge
Posted December 1, 2016, by Luke

That would've been the Union Pacific bridge, which lasted into the 80s: https://bridgehunter.com/wa/pierce/bh55394/

BN - 15th Street Bridge
Posted December 1, 2016, by Michael (graflexmaster [at] yahoo [dot] com)

I believe that your info on this bridge is not correct. I live in Tacoma Wa where this bridge was located. You say that it was no longer used after 1973 (when it was removed).

I did not receive a drivers license until I was 16 years old in Dec. 1975, and I can remember using that bridge as a short cut across the waterway to beat traffic on the 11th street bridge near by I used this bridge all the way through high school (graduated in 1978). So I can personally verify, from personal experience, that it was in use through 1978.

It was a swing bridge that I thought un usual, as it had the railroad track down the center, and the traffic lanes outboard so the lanes were split by the R/R track....