Located south of Livermore, this large deck girder bridge crosses the E. Fork Des Moines River.
Originally built in approximately 1900, the bridge originally featured three deck girder spans, set onto stone substructures.
However, a massive derailment occurred on the bridge in 1972, destroying the eastern two spans of the bridge. As a response, three mismatched spans were reused from other locations and installed on timber pile piers.
Unfortunately, there is little record of this bridge or where the replacement spans came from. It appears they also date to approximately 1900. The timber pile piers were replaced by steel piles after the Chicago & North Western takeover of this route.
Currently, the bridge consists of four deck girder spans, set onto stone and steel pile substructures. The western span is 80 feet long, and is original to the bridge. The other three spans are 50 feet, 40 feet and 70 feet long, respectively. In addition, the third span from the west features a fishbelly end, unusual on girders. It is approached by several trestle spans. A box car still remains just east of the bridge in the ditch.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair condition.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.
| Upstream | Algona Rail Bridge |
| Downstream | Dakota City Rail Bridge |