Once located north of Columbus Junction, this bridge crossed the Iowa River with a series of truss spans.
Built in 1894 during a time of rebuilding of the line, the bridge featured three 6-panel, pin connected Parker Through Trusses. In addition, there were a series of trestle approaches on either side of the bridge, and the bridge rested on stone and timber substructures.
These pin connected parker through truss spans were a standard design for the BCR&N, with structures having been built north of Cedar Falls and at Cedar Rapids, as well as here.
Unfortunately, this unique design has went extinct. The bridge at Cedar Rapids was replaced in the 1920s, while the bridge north of Cedar Falls was replaced in 2011.
Historic photo of the bridge, courtesy of Photolibrarian on Flickr
During the floods of 2008, train cars were parked on this bridge to protect it. Unfortunately, some of the trestle approaches collapsed during this time. The bridge sat abandoned until 2014.
After sitting abandoned for six years, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers made the decision to remove this bridge. While the substructures were in poor condition, the superstructures were in rather good condition. The removal of this bridge was completed in 2015, and was a big loss of a historic structure.
Overall, the bridge was in poor condition at the time of removal. The approaches had collapsed, and the piers were beginning to fail after years of ignored maintenance.
The author has ranked this bridge as being regionally significant, due to the unique design. Unfortunately, with the removal of this span, this design is completely extinct.
The photo above is an overview.
| Upstream | MILW Iowa River Bridge |
| Downstream | Columbus Junction Rail Bridge (South) |
