View an article regarding the construction of this bridge.
Located across a large valley north of Boone, this bridge crosses high above Bass Point Creek.
Built in 1913 to replace a failing wooden trestle, this bridge is extremely well known around central Iowa, due to the tourist trains which run over it, although it is not as big as the Kate Shelley High Bridge or the New Kate Shelley High Bridge.
Historic photo of the previous bridge. Credit of PhotoLibrarian on Flickr, used with Creative Commons permission.
The bridge consists of 15 main spans, set onto steel towers and concrete bases. Sitting 157 feet above the creek, it is also nearly 800 feet in length.
Fortunately, the bridge is fairly open to public view. The Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad runs over the bridge, and this is one of the highlight locations. To access the bridge by foot requires water access or special permission.
As such a landmark structure, an excellent article was prepared regarding the construction of the bridge. That article can be seen here.
Scan of the blueprints, from Engineering News, Volume 69
The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the large scale size.
The photo above is an overview of the bridge.