Rating:
5 votes

CN - French Creek Bridge

Outagamie County, Wisconsin

Photos 

French Creek Arch Bridge 1

French Creek is incised into the surrounding plain where it enters the Fox River. The embankment carries the railroad over the creek; the arch lets the creek through the embankment.

Photo taken by Robert Thompson in December 2009

Enlarge

BH Photo #151029

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Stone arch bridge over French Creek on Canadian National (formerly Chicago & Northwestern)
Location
Little Chute, Outagamie County, Wisconsin
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1882
Railroads
- Canadian National Railway (CN)
- Chicago & North Western Railway (CNW)
- Fox Valley & Western Ltd. (FVW)
- Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WC)
Dimensions
Span length: 70.0 ft.
Total length: 70.0 ft.
Also called
CNW - French Creek Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+44.28295, -88.33158   (decimal degrees)
44°16'59" N, 88°19'54" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
16/393750/4904162 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Kaukauna
Inventory number
BH 43786 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,569)
Arch (12,103)
Built 1882 (143)
Built during 1880s (1,994)
Canadian National Railway (513)
Chicago & North Western Railway (1,405)
Deck arch (11,342)
Fox Valley & Western Ltd. (18)
Little Chute, Wisconsin (3)
 Open (39,895)
Outagamie County, Wisconsin (44)
Owned by railroad (12,431)
Railroad (15,433)
Span length 50-75 feet (10,077)
Stone arch (3,051)
Total length 50-75 feet (9,300)
Wisconsin (1,471)
Wisconsin Central Ltd. (90)

Update Log 

  • February 8, 2015: Updated by John Marvig: Determined build date from blueprints
  • September 29, 2014: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
  • December 27, 2009: Added by Robert Thompson

Sources 

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Comments 

French Creek Railway Bridge
Posted December 28, 2009, by J.R. Manning (thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net)

This is another very typical example of Chicago & Northwestern Railway bridge construction. The chief engineers really liked quarried stone for such structures.

One detail about this one that seems unique is that the vault is a horseshoe shape.

Two of my favorites are the Viaduct Road bridge in Dane County http://bridgehunter.com/wi/dane/P13012700000000/ and the Goette Road Bridge in Sauk County, the oldest single vault stone arch in Wisconsin. http://bridgehunter.com/wi/sauk/P56014000000000/