In the city of Rock Rapids sits this beautiful trail bridge, providing spectacular views of the Rock River and the island.
The bridge is divided into two sets of main spans. Over the east channel, two Through Girder spans on concrete piers cross the river.
Over the west channel, a single through girder span crosses the river. Between these, a number of deck girder spans cross the island. This bridge has a substantial curve in it.
The bridge is mainly set onto stone substructures, with one concrete pier. It was built in 1902 to replace a similar structure, as the BCR&N did a number of upgrades to this line.
Today, the bridge serves as a popular park and trail, and is also on the National Register of Historic Places. It was converted to a trail in 2007.
Historic photo of the bridge. Credit to PhotoLibrarian on Flickr, used with Creative Commons permission.
The author has ranked the bridge as moderately significant due to the community effort in preserving the structure, the great historical integrity and the somewhat uncommon string of designs for the structure.
The photo above is looking from the west channel, east along the bridge.
| Upstream | Luverne Rail Bridge |
| Downstream | Rock Rapids Rail Bridge |