CN - Trempeleau River Bridge
Description
Super-elevated two span curved pony truss, with additional piers mid span to increase load capacity in the late 1930s. Bridge was described as new in a 1902 report to the Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner.Facts
- Overview
- Pratt pony truss bridge over Trempeleau River on Candian National Railway
- Location
- Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, and Buffalo County, Wisconsin
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1902
- Builder
- - Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Railroads
- - Canadian National Railway (CN)
- Green Bay & Western Railroad (GB&W)
- Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WC)
- Design
- Pratt pony truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 105.0 ft.
Total length: 210.0 ft.
- Also called
- WC - Trempeleau River Bridge
GB&W - Trempeleau River Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +44.14093, -91.55862 (decimal degrees)
44°08'27" N, 91°33'31" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/615288/4888536 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Dodge
- Inventory number
- BH 65415 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- November 27, 2021: Updated by John Marvig: added builder and build date
- August 27, 2015: New photos from John Marvig
- January 10, 2015: Added by John Marvig
Sources
- John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
It is indeed a very unique bridge, and I regret not hitting these things earlier. Canadian National replaced an old pin connected deck truss last year on this line. Unfortunately, as the frac sand industry continues to grow, these bridges will be replaced. Fortunately for this structure, the additional piers may have stabilized it and kept it off the replacement radar for years to come. Only time will tell.
I encourage all to alert me to coverage gaps or bridges they would like to see pictures of at the email above. I normally am on top of coverage of bridges in the region, however some slip by. Bridges in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Iowa I can typically cover in a timely manner.
-John
It is a very pretty bridge. Thanks for the pictures John. And now I feel as though I have personally let Nathan down after all the help he's given me.
Royce
I am VERY irritated that this fascinating bridge is only now appearing with photos on Bridgehunter, since I was in this area a couple years ago and had no idea there was this EXTREMELY unusual skewed Railroad Camelback pony truss, featuring the unusual built-up beam composition that is sometimes found on railroad bridge. At least we have John taking care of these critical coverage gaps.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/wi/trempealeau/bh65415/
The CN has taken the line west or Arcadia, Wisc out of service. It is not abandoned so it could be put back into service at some point in the future, but no longer sees rail traffic nor is being maintained.