MILW - Cedar River Bridge
Photos
Sad Remnants...
The former bridge site as viewed looking south from the neighboring Iowa Northern RR bridge, itself a leftover from the Rock Island. Two granger railroads which are now long gone...
Photo taken by Dylan VanAntwerp in June 2013
BH Photo #256274
Facts
- Overview
- Lost Warren Deck Truss bridge over Cedar River on Former Milwaukee Road
- Location
- Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa
- Status
- Removed
- History
- Built 1905, widened in 1913, lost 1983
- Railroad
- - Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (MILW)
- Design
- 1-39'; 1-90' Deck Plate Girder
5-160' Warren deck trusses
94' Deck Plate Girder - Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 160.0 ft.
Total length: 1,023.0 ft.
- Also called
- MILW Bridge #Z-814
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +42.02651, -91.73876 (decimal degrees)
42°01'35" N, 91°44'20" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/604410/4653489 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Cedar Rapids North
- Inventory number
- BH 53831 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- April 11, 2016: New photo from Luke
- April 7, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added refined lost date from forum comment
- August 15, 2013: Updated by Dylan VanAntwerp: Added photo information
- July 29, 2013: New photos from Dylan VanAntwerp
- June 15, 2013: New photo from Dylan VanAntwerp
- April 16, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Corrected build date.
- March 12, 2013: New photo from John Marvig
- March 10, 2013: Updated by John Marvig: added information
- November 13, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Updated page
- October 6, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
- October 6, 2012: Added by Luke Harden
Related Bridges
- MILW - Cedar River Bridge (Original) (Predecessor)
Sources
- John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Luke
- Iowa State University Geographic Information Systems - 1950s Aerial Imagery
- Dylan VanAntwerp - dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com
Comments
The Milwaukee Road did a mass-abandonment in 1980, shedding off its entire Pacific Extension and also numerous lines in the Midwest. It was a desperate measure to shed off weaker lines and retreat to a financially solvent core system. Among the lines that were axed was the former E/W main across IA that went through Cedar Rapids. So the bridge was probably torn out within a short time following its 1980 abandonment date.
It was built in 1905 and widened in 1912-13. The first bridge (1881-1905) across Cedar River was about a mile further south and the right-of-way sloped down the east side of the river. The grade and the piers can still can be seen today.
Probably lost to the MILW needing money in its last days. Steel has scrap value.
Was this bridge lost to flooding in 1985, or lost to "progress?"
See the ruins before IA-100 is built over them
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ia/linn/up-creek/
The second Cedar River bridge was removed in June 1983. The remaining abutments and piers will not be affected by Iowa Highway 100 construction as the new highway bridge will be built north of both the MILW and current Iowa Northern (ex-CRIP, nee BCRN) bridge alignments.