Rating:
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UP - Omaha Railroad Bridge (1916)

Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and Douglas County, Nebraska

Photos 

Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge

Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge

Photo taken by Brad J Williams in July 2009

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BH Photo #150472

Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview
Through truss bridge over Missouri River on Union Pacific Railroad
Location
Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and Douglas County, Nebraska
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1916
Builder
- American Bridge Co. of New York
Railroad
- Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
Design
Pin-connected Parker through truss with Pratt Through Truss and Deck Plate Girder Approaches
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 250.0 ft.
Total length: 1,784.0 ft.
Also called
UP - Missouri River Bridge (1916)
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.24979, -95.91743   (decimal degrees)
41°14'59" N, 95°55'03" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/255554/4570591 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Omaha South
Inventory number
BH 43720 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

5-panel truss (658)
American Bridge Co. (1,790)
Built 1916 (752)
Built during 1910s (10,288)
Council Bluffs, Iowa (46)
Deck girder (6,699)
Douglas County, Nebraska (88)
Girder (11,783)
Have street view (30,587)
Iowa (6,909)
M-frame portal (90)
Missouri River (124)
Navigable waterway (2,256)
Nebraska (1,753)
Omaha, Nebraska (71)
Open (41,561)
Owned by railroad (14,331)
 Parker through truss (1,456)
Parker truss (1,855)
Pin-connected (5,505)
Plate girder (9,289)
Pottawattamie County, Iowa (149)
Pratt through truss (6,454)
Pratt truss (10,914)
Railroad (17,179)
Riveted (2,821)
Span length 250-500 feet (1,319)
State line crossing (967)
Through truss (19,315)
Total length 1000-2500 feet (2,063)
Truss (38,703)
Union Pacific Railroad (2,531)
X-Frame Portal (35)

Update Log 

  • February 19, 2023: New photos from Dave King
  • July 15, 2019: New photo from John Cockle
  • September 12, 2016: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
  • September 12, 2016: Updated by Luke: Added builder
  • October 23, 2015: New photos from John Marvig
  • April 3, 2013: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
  • December 8, 2009: Added by Brad J Williams

Related Bridges 

Sources 

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Comments 

Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge
Posted January 18, 2011, by Chris G. (cgaul73059 [at] msn [dot] com)

This bridge replaced a 1888 structure that was not strong enough to support heavier trains. American railroads were booming. The Union Pacific museum in the old headquarters building explained how this bridge was built in 1916.

Peak US track mileage was in 1916. To keep traffic interruptions to the absolute minimum this vital link had to stay open during construction.

To accomplish this, temporary wooden piers were built upstream and downstream of the 1888 stone piers. The new trusses were constructed over the Missouri on the upstream piers. When they were completed, the 1888 bridge was moved from the stone piers onto the downstream wood piers using steam driven winches. The winches were rerigged and pulled the new trusses onto the stone piers. The old span was then removed. Traffic was interrupted less than one day. An amazing piece of engineering and construction!