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WSOR - Wisconsin River Back Channel Bridge

Dane County, Wisconsin

Photos 

Bridge is in the background

Photo taken by Lance

License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)

View this photo on Flickr

BH Photo #241682

Map 

Description 

Trusses built 1888 as an approach span to Omaha Bridge #15 in St. Paul, relocated here in 1915. Through girders relocated from an unknown location to here in 1915.

Facts 

Overview
Pratt through truss bridge over Wisconsin River on Abandoned Wisconsin Southern Railroad
Location
Sauk City, Dane County, Wisconsin
Status
Closed to all traffic
History
Built 1888 in St. Paul, Minnesota; Relocated Here in 1915
Builder
- Keystone Bridge Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Railroads
- Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (MILW; CMStP&P; CMStP)
- Wisconsin & Calumet Railroad (WICT)
- Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR)
Design
Pratt through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 150.0 ft.
Total length: 425.0 ft.
Also called
MILW - Wisconsin River Back Channel Bridge
WICT - Wisconsin River Back Channel Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+43.26365, -89.72420   (decimal degrees)
43°15'49" N, 89°43'27" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/278901/4793697 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Sauk City
Inventory number
BH 54069 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (6,660)
6-panel truss (567)
Beam (13,633)
Built 1888 (204)
Built during 1880s (1,765)
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (938)
Closed (2,537)
Dane County, Wisconsin (44)
Deck girder (4,917)
Girder (8,885)
Keystone Bridge Co. (59)
Navigable waterway (2,087)
Owned by railroad (10,840)
Pin-connected (3,640)
 Plate girder (6,761)
Pratt through truss (4,816)
Pratt truss (8,385)
Railroad (14,196)
Sauk City, Wisconsin (7)
Span length 125-175 feet (3,921)
Through truss (13,614)
Timber stringer (3,532)
Total length 250-500 feet (4,803)
Truss (30,597)
Wisconsin (1,359)
Wisconsin & Calumet Railroad (4)
Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (83)
Wisconsin River (42)

Update Log 

  • April 10, 2018: New photos from John Marvig
  • December 6, 2016: Updated by John Marvig: Added Build Date
  • July 3, 2013: Updated by John Marvig: Bridge is a pratt through truss
  • October 21, 2012: Added by Luke Harden

Sources 

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Comments 

WSOR - Wisconsin River Back Channel Bridge
Posted April 10, 2018, by John Marvig (marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com)

A very interesting bridge. The trusses are confirmed to have been relocated from St. Paul, Minnesota. They were originally built in 1888 and moved here in 1915. However, the approach girders are also interesting. They are examples of some of the earliest girders I've seen for railroad use. A bridge in Minnesota built by the same railroad used 1879 deck girders (as confirmed by blueprints and railroad records):

https://bridgehunter.com/mn/fillmore/bh36297/

Thoughts to the idea of the approach girders?

Wisconsin River Back Channel Bridge
Posted November 17, 2012, by Robert Thompson

The Back Channel Bridge is in the far, far background. That's the main channel Swing Bridge ( http://bridgehunter.com/wi/sauk/bh46753/ ) in the foreground.