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BNSF Five Mile Creek Bridge

Deck Plate Girder Bridge over Five Mile Creek
Correll, Big Stone County, Minnesota

Click the Photo Above to See All Photos of This Bridge!
Name BNSF Five Mile Creek Bridge
Built By Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
Contractor Milwaukee Bridge Company of Milwaukee
Currently Owned By BNSF Railway
Length 70 Feet Total, 35 Foot Main Spans
Width 1 Track, Substructures Built For 2
Height Above Ground 15 Feet (Estimated)
Superstructure Type Deck Plate Girder
Substructure Type Concrete
Date Fabricated (Eastbound Spans) 1892
Date Built Built 1909 using secondhand spans, second track added 1913
Original Locations (Eastbound Spans) Bridge #A-248; Sturtevant, Wisconsin
Bridge #A-274; Oakwood, Wisconsin
Traffic Count 6 Trains/Day (Estimated)
Current Status In Use
MILW Bridge Number O-248
Significance Local Significance
Documentation Date March 2019


Located along MN-7, this small deck girder bridge crosses Five Mile Creek between Appleton and Correll.
Originally built in 1909, the bridge first consisted of a pair of secondhand deck plate girders, relocated from Bridge #A-248 (Sturtevant, Wisconsin) and Bridge #A-274 (Oakwood, Wisconsin). Both of these spans were from double track bridges fabricated in 1892, and combined to form one "twinned" girder with four total girder lines.
In 1913, a second track was added as the railroad double tracked through this area. Instead of completely rebuilding this bridge, a second track was instead added to the bridge.
At some point prior to 1938, the eastbound track was removed and the older track of the bridge removed. It is unknown what happened to the spans, although it is possible they were reused elsewhere.
Currently, the bridge features a pair of deck plate girder spans with ballasted decks, set onto concrete substructures.
Unfortunately, during the authors documentation of this bridge, the snow drifts around it were too high to thoroughly search the bridge for any signs of plaques or stamps. The author plans on revisiting this bridge in the near future.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair condition. The superstructure appears to be in excellent condition, possibly due to the use of the ballasted decks. The substructures are beginning to show sign of age.

The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design and unknown history.
The photo above is an overview, showing how serious the snow drifts were at this location.

Citations

Source Type

Source

Bridge History Milwaukee Road Archives at the Milwaukee Central Library
Railroad Line History Source ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele