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BNSF - Washington Street Overpass

Spokane County, Washington

Photos 

South side.

Photo taken by Kyle Jarvis in November 2013

Enlarge

BH Photo #339144

Map 

Description 

The Washington street viaduct is the most impressive of four built in 1915 by the Northern Pacific Railway as part of $125,000 grade separation project. The closed spandrel concrete arch carries the rails across four traffic lanes and two sidewalks and is nearly 100 feet wide. The date of construction and the railway’s name and famed “yin-yang” logo are cast into both facades. The ancient oriental symbol was adopted by the Northern Pacific after one of it officials noticed the Korean flag during a visit to the 1893 Columbian exposition in Chicago.

Facts 

Overview
Closed-spandrel arch bridge over Washington Street on BNSF Spokane Subdivision
Location
Spokane, Spokane County, Washington
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1915 as part of Northern Pacific grade elevation. To Burlington Northern in 1970 merger. To BNSF in 1996 merger.
Railroads
- BNSF Railway (BNSF)
- Burlington Northern Railroad (BN)
- Northern Pacific Railroad (NP)
Design
Closed-spandrel arch
Dimensions
Span length: 68.0 ft.
Total length: 68.0 ft.
Also called
Br.71.6
Approximate latitude, longitude
+47.65572, -117.41800   (decimal degrees)
47°39'21" N, 117°25'05" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
11/468612/5278120 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Spokane NW
Inventory number
BH 69582 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Arch (12,314)
BNSF Railway (1,528)
Built 1915 (1,237)
Built during 1910s (9,738)
Burlington Northern Railroad (476)
Closed-spandrel arch (4,102)
Deck arch (11,553)
Northern Pacific Railroad (431)
Northern Pacific Spokane Grade Separation (4)
 Open (40,091)
Owned by railroad (12,732)
Railroad (15,858)
Span length 50-75 feet (10,172)
Spokane County, Washington (84)
Spokane, Washington (56)
Total length 50-75 feet (9,358)
Washington (1,328)

Update Log 

  • April 19, 2018: Updated by Richard Doody: Added historical info to description
  • February 7, 2017: New photo from Kyle Jarvis
  • October 8, 2015: Added by Kyle Jarvis

Sources 

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Comments 

BNSF - Washington Street Overpass
Posted May 3, 2021, by John Marvig (marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com)

I'm not sure if this bridge was built on a new alignment, but there was a previous Washington Street bridge, built 1906, which was at least partially shipped to Minnesota:

http://bridgehunter.com/mn/pine/bh58401/