This massive high trestle crosses the Sheyenne River and its massive valley between Karnak and Luverne.
Because of the nature of the area, the Sheyenne River carved a deep valley at this location. It was dammed up to create Lake Ashtabula, which this bridge currently crosses.
The bridge is a massive high trestle, with the main spans resting on steel bents. In addition, the towers and other substructures are made of concrete.
Of the large bridges in North Dakota, this structure is the highest and the middle in length. It is longer and taller than the Gassman Coulee Trestle near Minot, but shorter in distance than the Hi-Line Bridge to the south in Valley City.
The structure is best accessed by using 10th Street SE from the west. The east side appears to be off limits and not possible to access. The bridge contains 26 main spans and 25 tower spans, giving a total count of 51 spans.
The bridge was built single track, and unlike the Valley City Bridge; it cannot be converted to a double track structure.
Historic photo of the bridge
The author has ranked this bridge as being regionally significant, due to the lack of notable railroad bridges in Western Minnesota and North Dakota.
The photo above is an overview.