Located in a remote area east of Medary Junction, this small through girder bridge is one of a dozen similar structures along this stretch of the La Crosse River State Trail. This particular span crosses Smith Valley Creek, one of only two named creeks along this segment.
Built in 1910, the bridge consists of a standard through plate girder span, set onto concrete substructures. It appears almost all trestles in the area were upgraded in 1909-1910. At 60 feet in length, this span is larger than some of the others along this section of trail, but still follows an identical design.
This style of bridge was used heavily by almost every railroad in America, due to the ease of construction, lack of maintenance and easily obtainable materials. Often, a bridge like this could replace a trestle in only a couple days, with minimal service interruption.
The area between Medary Junction and Interstate 90 goes through a large wetlands area, crossing several small streams, swamps and ditches. The area is very scenic, and the trail is extremely popular in this area.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with little serious deterioration noted.
The author has ranked the bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design and abundance of similar bridges nearby.
The photo above is looking east across the bridge. Unfortunately, low sunlight and extreme overgrowth made proper photos of this bridge impossible, as well as the parallel Canadian Pacific bridge.