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UP - Crooked River Bridge

Ray County, Missouri

Photos 

1931 Photo shortly after construction was finished

scanned from Engineering News-Record page 605

Scan provided by Paul Hamby

Enlarge

BH Photo #326161

Map 

Description 

In 1931, the Rock Island realigned and upgraded its Trenton, MO, to Kansas City, MO, line with 76 miles of new and upgraded tracks costing 13.5 million dollars. As a part of the new construction project, a section of joint MILW/RI double track was built between Polo and Lawson. The original MILW single track DPG bridge over the Crooked River was replaced at this time with a much larger double track bridge just upstream on the new joint line.

The new bridge is still in service to this day with the Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific railroads and is in amazing condition. This was the largest bridge constructed on the new route, a double-track Pratt deck truss with concrete arch span approaches. It is much larger than the old MILW DPG bridge it replaced, which lay to the south in the flood plain. The original MILW alignment can still be made out running parallel to the new line between Polo and Lawson, and the old bridge's piers and abutments remain at the former Crooked River bridge site near Elmira.

Facts 

Overview
Subdived Warren deck truss bridge over Crooked River on Union Pacific / Canadian Pacific Railroad
Location
Ray County, Missouri
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1931 by the Rock Island Railroad
Railroads
- Canadian Pacific Railway (CP)
- Chicago & North Western Railway (CNW)
- Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (MILW)
- Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (CRIP (1866-1920); RI (1920-1975) ROCK (1975-1980))
- Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad (DME)
- I&M Rail Link (IMRL)
- Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad (ICE)
- Soo Line Railroad (SOO)
- Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
Design
150ft double-track subdivided Warren deck truss span with concrete arch approaches, rail level is 84ft above water, total bridge length is approximately 460ft long. Bridge has a ballasted deck.
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 150.0 ft.
Total length: 460.0 ft.
Also called
RI - Crooked River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+39.50990, -94.14886   (decimal degrees)
39°30'36" N, 94°08'56" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/401234/4373992 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Elmira
Land survey
T. 54 N., R. 29 W., Sec. 10
Inventory number
BH 67853 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

6-panel truss (918)
Arch (12,865)
Ballasted Deck (154)
Built 1931 (988)
Built during 1930s (12,327)
Canadian Pacific Railway (584)
Chicago & North Western Railway (1,479)
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (1,127)
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (1,184)
Closed-spandrel arch (4,343)
Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad (351)
Deck arch (12,082)
Deck truss (2,049)
I&M Rail Link (166)
Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad (232)
 Missouri (6,592)
Open (41,435)
Owned by railroad (14,125)
Railroad (16,994)
Ray County, Missouri (72)
Riveted (2,776)
Soo Line Railroad (325)
Span length 125-175 feet (4,600)
Total length 250-500 feet (5,720)
Truss (38,312)
Union Pacific Railroad (2,509)
Warren deck truss (691)
Warren deck truss with sub-panels (11)
Warren truss (7,181)

Update Log 

  • July 1, 2022: New photo from Luke
  • May 16, 2022: Updated by Paul Plassman: Added categories "6-panel truss", "Riveted"
  • May 15, 2022: New photo from Dylan VanAntwerp
  • April 15, 2022: Updated by Dylan VanAntwerp: Added categories "Ballasted Deck", "Soo Line Railroad", "Canadian Pacific Railway", "Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad", "Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad", "I&M Rail Link"
  • May 31, 2015: Added by Paul Hamby

Related Bridges 

Sources 

  • Dylan VanAntwerp - dylan_vanantwerp [at] live [dot] com
  • Luke

Comments 

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