ATSF - Fivemile Creek Arch Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Stone and brick arch bridge over Fivemile Creek on Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad grade (abandoned) in Buffalo Bill Park. in Leavenworth
- Location
- Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas
- Status
- Closed to all traffic
- History
- Built 1900
- Railroad
- - Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (ATSF)
- Design
- Double span stone and brick arch.
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 35.0 ft.
Total length: 70.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +39.28870, -94.91330 (decimal degrees)
39°17'19" N, 94°54'48" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/334993/4350559 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Leavenworth
- Inventory number
- BH 43558 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- December 3, 2016: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
- September 6, 2016: New photos from John Marvig
- September 5, 2016: Updated by John Marvig: Added information
- September 18, 2014: Updated by Clark Vance: Added category "Stone-and-Brick Arch"
- May 27, 2013: New photos from Clark Vance
- May 13, 2013: Updated by Robert Elder: Updated categories and overview
- December 23, 2012: New photos from Clark Vance
- April 2, 2010: Updated by Joshua Collins: made slight adjustment to gps coordinates
- October 27, 2009: Added by Robert Elder
Related Bridges
- ATSF - Ninemile Creek Bridge (Same design)
- ATSF - Limit Street Overpass (Upstream) - Adjacent bridge from another century
Sources
- Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Joshua Collins - Bigjc1979 [at] aol [dot] com
- Clark Vance - cvance [at] dogmail [dot] com
- John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Dana and Kay Klein
Comments
Relocated trusses? Any leads on where they might have gone?
I was also surprised by the construction date of 1900. At that time, plate girders and deck plate girders were becoming viable options for railroad use. Thus, I think that it is awesome that we have some stone and brick arches in Leavenworth as opposed to plate girders.
I believe it is the exact same date. I agree about the disappointment, there were at least two dozen arches I figured would be mid-1880s that actually date to the late 1890s. Then again, it’s also a really cool bridge and it’s outlived most every other structure in the area. The difference between 1880 and 1900 in stone arches isn’t huge, unlike trusses.
These bridge records do give an interesting look at bridges on the ATSF. There were some relocated trusses on the Topeka-Atchison line, and even an old turntable overpass in the area.
It's disappointing that this isn't 15-20 years older. I suppose this means the Ninemile Creek bridge is about the same age.
Clark,
Going through these records, I'm guessing these were built as a mass replacement of trestle spans throughout the area. Almost all ATSF arches I see were built between 1895-1900.
That seems like such a late date for this bridge. I have to wonder if this was a rehab or default date.
Finding info on Ninemile Creek to the south would be nice.
See bridge #19E on this ATSF Bridge Record Book.
Is there a source for the 1900 build date?
The area around the bridge was recently cleared out as part of an Eagle Scout project. Source: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2006819
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ks/leavenworth/bh43558/
I've followed the remains of the line north and found a couple of locations I'll look at next time I get up that way. The part north of the fort was taken up between the '51 and '61 topos. The part in town probably lasted into the '80s since they built the Limit Street Bridge in '76. My guess is these were mostly timber pile trestles (like the Sevenmile Creek Bridge) although John's chart shows an old turntable somewhere in the city.
Meanwhile, Luke has added a presumed crossing under the track just east of this to carry the original Limit Street alignment. Much to explore.