Located near the ghost town of Capa is a unique truss with an equally unique back story.
While South Dakota may have a number of Quadrangular Through Truss bridges, few have a relocation history.
Many frugal railroads believed heavily in relocating bridges from main lines to branch lines as a form of recycling. When a bridge at Winona, Minnesota was replaced in 1927 and 1928, 11 truss spans would be relocated to the Black Hills Division.
Featuring pedimented portal bracings and significantly more vertical endposts than other spans.
Measuring in at 159 Feet 8 Inches long, approximately 10 similar spans exist or have existed along the Black Hills Division of the C&NW. Interestingly enough, five of these spans came from Winona, Minnesota. However, this span appears to not have come from Winona.
While purely speculative, the author believes this span could have been relocated from the Iowa Division. However, this has not been confirmed.
When erected here at an unknown date, the bridge replaced an earlier wooden Howe Truss, constructed in 1907. It is likely that this bridge was relocated here between 1913 and 1930.
Currently, the bridge sits on steel tube substructures and is approached by trestle spans on either side. The eastern trestle spans have since been replaced with I-Beam spans in approximately 2009.
Overall, the bridge remains in good condition. During the Canadian Pacific days, the bridge was rehabilitated by replacing some rivets.
Identical trusses in the region include the 1st, 7th, 9th, 13th and 14th crossings of the Bad River, as well as a bridge at Wasta.
The author has ranked this bridge as being highly significant, due to the relocation history and age.
The photo above is an overview.
| Upstream | RCP&E Old Bad River Bridge #3 |
| Downstream | RCP&E Bad River Bridge #4 |