Rating:
3 votes

UP Kinnickinnic River Bridge

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
Share:

Photos 

Long Distance View

All these photos were taken with telephoto glass to remain on public property.

The sign above the portal reads "KK RIVER BRIDGE" or, at least, it did before several of the letters fell off. Today, it says. "K RIV R BR DGE"

Photo taken by J.R. Manning in April 2010

Enlarge

Map 

Description 

Heading south from the Chicago & Northwestern Depot in Milwaukee, the double-track mainline crossed the Milwaukee River on the C&NW Milwaukee River Bridge, the largest swing bridge on the Milwaukee River. The line then split with one division going to Chicago. The other, the Madison Division, headed west but not before it crossed the Kinnickinnic River, on this bridge, to Jones Island.

Today, the bridge is (apparently) used sporadically and it appears to parked in the open position. It is surrounded by private property and is very difficult to shoot.

According to Don's Depot, the bridge was controlled from a tower on the top of the bridge. Don says the bridge was referred to as the KK Madison bridge because there was a KK River Bridge on the main line. (That bridge no longer exists.)

Facts 

Overview
Bridge over Kinnickinnic River on Union Pacific Railroad (Formerly C&NW Madison Division)
Location
Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
Status
Open to traffic
Also called
CNW Kinnickinnic River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+43.01360, -87.90422   (decimal degrees)
43°00'49" N, 87°54'15" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/426314/4762721 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Milwaukee
Inventory number
BH 44959 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Chicago & North Western Railway (588)
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (92)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (54)
Movable (1,460)
Navigable waterway (1,549)
Open (29,404)
Owned by railroad (4,902)
 Railroad (5,594)
Swing (572)
Through truss (9,587)
Truss (24,153)
Union Pacific Railroad (994)
Wisconsin (835)

Update Log 

  • August 3, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Navigable waterway", "Union Pacific Railroad", "Railroad"
  • April 21, 2010: Added by J.R. Manning

Sources 

  • J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
  • Don's Depot - Don Ross' collection of photos and info from his many years as an employee of the C&NW.
  • Douglas Butler
Post a comment here
Contact webmaster

Comments 

C&NW Kinnickinnic River Bridge
Posted August 3, 2013, by Douglas Butler (drawbridges [at] lycos [dot] com)

Railroad swing bridge in Milwaukee.

Webmaster's note: The photo that was here has been incorporated into the main site.