Rating:
5 votes

Fort Dodge High Bridge

Webster County, Iowa

Photos 

Decktruss

Photo taken by Bill Dunbar

BH Photo #203563

Map 

Street Views 

Facts 

Overview
Deck truss bridge over Des Moines River on railroad
Location
Fort Dodge, Webster County, Iowa
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1902 by the Mason City and Fort Dodge Railway, later Chicago Great Western
Builders
- American Bridge Co. of New York (Superstructure)
- Bates & Rogers Construction Co. of Chicago, Illinois (Substructure)
- H.C. Keith (Chief Engineer)
- Kelly-Atkinson Construction Co. of Chicago, Illinois (Erection)
Railroads
- Chicago Great Western Railway (CGW)
- Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway (MC&FtD)
- Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
Design
11 Spans Deck Plate Girder supported on steel towers
4-219' Pinned Baltimore Deck truss spans
19 Spans Deck Plate Girder supported on steel towers
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 219.0 ft.
Total length: 2,719.0 ft. (0.5 mi.)
Also called
Fort Dodge Viaduct
Chicago Great Western High Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.49161, -94.18426   (decimal degrees)
42°29'30" N, 94°11'03" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/402680/4705040 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Fort Dodge South
Inventory number
BH 49065 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

American Bridge Co. (1,765)
Baltimore deck truss (43)
Baltimore truss (400)
Bates & Rogers Construction Co. (42)
Built 1902 (611)
Built during 1900s (7,947)
Chicago Great Western Railway (202)
Deck girder (6,623)
Deck truss (2,051)
Des Moines River (239)
Fort Dodge, Iowa (29)
Girder (11,669)
H.C. Keith (1)
Have street view (30,436)
Iowa (6,868)
 Kelly-Atkinson Construction Co. (21)
Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway (2)
Open (41,456)
Owned by railroad (14,148)
Pin-connected (5,429)
Plate girder (9,182)
Railroad (17,009)
Riveted (2,776)
Span length 175-250 feet (2,125)
Tall Bridges (327)
Total length over 2500 feet (975)
Truss (38,330)
Union Pacific Railroad (2,511)
Webster County, Iowa (89)

Update Log 

  • May 18, 2017: New photos from John Marvig
  • December 12, 2016: Updated by Luke: Added another builder
  • October 29, 2016: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added categories "Pin-connected", "Riveted"
  • October 30, 2014: Updated by Luke: Added category "Bates & Rogers Construction Co."
  • November 16, 2013: New Street View added by Luke Harden
  • July 26, 2012: New photos from John Marvig
  • July 24, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Added information, corrected build date and length based on a UP measurement
  • March 23, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Chicago Great Western Railway"
  • November 24, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Addded infor per historic bridges
  • September 7, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: corrected build date and changed name
  • August 31, 2011: Updated by Jason Smith: Changed the name of the bridge
  • July 9, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Added photographs and build date, listed original railroad as builder.
  • July 6, 2011: Added by Luke Harden

Sources 

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Comments 

Des Moines River Bridge
Posted July 7, 2011, by Andy W (jitterz [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Built in 1901 by a Chicago Great Western subsidiary, the Mason City & Fort Dodge Railway, as part of their Council Bluffs extension. Now owned by the UP.

I took the following two pictures in March 2008: