Railroad Bridge

This railroad bridge at Clinton IA was built for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad for their mainline between Chicago and Omaha. The original bridge at this location was the second bridge to cross the Mississippi River. It was involved in several litigation's from steamboat operators. The third such lawsuit was conclusively settled in favor of the railroads, ending the war between the bridge operators and steamboat operators. That did not, however, erase the fact that the narrow swing span of the original bridge probably was a navigation hazard.

The bridge that we see today was built in 1909. It is a brute of a bridge and it contains a lot of steel. It has to, since it serves as one of the most heavily used Union Pacific Railroad mainlines. It takes a pounding from over 50 trains per day. Interestingly enough, no two spans of this bridge look alike.


Location - Mississippi River Mile 518.0
Railroad - Union Pacific
Daily traffic count - est 50 trains per day
Bridge type - Steel through truss with wing span
Length - 890 feet overall, 460 wing span
Width - Double track
Navigation channel width - 178 feet
Height above water - 19 feet
Date built - 1909

* Thank you to http://www.johnweeks.com/ for the above information.