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Vietnam Veterans Trail Bridge

Deck Plate Girder Bridge over Unnamed Creek
La Crosse, La Crosse County, Wisconsin

Click the Photo Above to See All Photos of This Bridge!
Name Vietnam Veterans Trail Bridge
Built By Chicago & North Western Railway
Contractor American Bridge Company of New York
Currently Owned By City of La Crosse
Length 80 Feet Total
Width 1 Track
Height Above Ground 15 Feet (Estimated)
Superstructure Type Deck Plate Girder
Substructure Type Stone Masonry
Date Built 1908
Traffic Count 0 Trains/Day (Bridge is a Trail)
Current Status Rails to Trails
C&NW Bridge Number 654 1/2 G
Significance Local Significance
Documentation Date November 2020


Located at the edge of the La Crosse River Marsh just north of La Crosse, this bridge carries the Vietnam Veterans Trail over a small unnamed creek.
Built in 1908, the bridge features a single deck plate girder span, set onto stone substructures. This bridge likely replaced an older wooden trestle.
This style bridge is extremely common for railroads across America, due to the ease of construction and cheap materials. The area along this trail is a marsh, and the creek below drains into the La Crosse River.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in excellent condition. Unfortunately, the railroad bridge over the La Crosse River to the north was removed prior to the 1990s.

The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.

Citations

Source Type

Source

Build Date Plaque
Railroad Line History Source ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele