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Beaver Dam Rail Bridge

Concrete Arch Bridge over Beaver Dam River
Beaver Dam, Dodge County, Wisconsin

Click the Photo Above to See All Photos of This Bridge!
Name Beaver Dam Rail Bridge
Built By Milwaukee, Sparta & North Western Railway
Contractor Bates & Rogers Construction Company of Chicago
Currently Owned By Union Pacific Railroad
Length 200 Feet Total, 40 Foot Main Span
Width 1 Track, Built for 2
Height Above Ground 20 Feet (Estimated)
Superstructure Type Concrete Arch
Substructure Type Concrete
Date Built 1910
Traffic Count 8 Trains/Day (Estimated)
Current Status In Use
C&NW Bridge Number 2543
Significance Moderate Significance
Documentation Date March 2016


This massive concrete arch crosses the Beaver Dam River, near Center Street in South Beaver Dam.
The bridge consists of three concrete arch spans. The center span is a 40 foot span, while the approaches are 32 feet each.
In addition, the bridge has been constructed for two tracks. However, it is very unlikely that it ever carried two tracks.
This bridge is by far the most massive arch bridge along the Milwaukee, Sparta & North Western lines, and appears to have been very time consuming to build.
The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the large scale common design.

Historic Photo
Construction of Bridge

The photo above is an overview. Unfortunately, high water and trees made getting good shots of this bridge very difficult.

Citations

Source Type

Source

Build Date Date stamp
Railroad Line History Source ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele