Armour-Swift-Burlington (ASB) Bridge

View the Historic American Engineering Record documentation of this bridge

View an article describing the original design

Located immediately upstream of the Heart of America bridge, this unique bridge is one of two ever constructed using this design. As Kansas City and the railroad network within the city grew during the 1870s and 1880s, a second bridge across the Missouri River was desired. During the 1880s, five railroads were using the Hannibal Bridge upstream, which had become overcrowded. In 1887, Congress authorized the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad to construct a bridge across the Missouri River immediately north of Kansas City. Congress stipulated that the bridge would carry railroad traffic, as well as contain a roadway deck which did not require a toll. While the Chouteau Bridge was constructed downstream in 1887, plans for this bridge continued. John Alexander Low Waddell was retained to design a high level bridge across the Missouri River, to be built for a single railroad track and a roadway on either side of the truss. The Chicago, Kansas City & Texas Railway would obtain the charter for the bridge, and the design was approved by the War Department in 1889. Work on the bridge would begin in 1890, with the construction of nine stone piers. The original design called for four 428-foot pin-connected Pennsylvania through truss spans, an approach viaduct on the north end and two smaller trusses of the same design on the south end. The stone piers were constructed by the Henry L. Hopkins Bridge Company, and were constructed using pneumatic caissons faced with Strong City, Kansas sandstone. After completion of the piers, the project was transferred to the Kansas City Bridge and Terminal Company (KCB&T). The bridge became known as the "Winner Bridge", after Willard E. Winner, owner of the KCB&T. Work was slow during the 1890s, with the Panic of 1893 largely stalling the project. The project was granted an extension in 1894, and the stipulation to remain toll-free was removed.

By 1894, Waddell was again retained to redesign the bridge using the , this time using a two track, two deck pin-connected through truss bridge which utilized lifting machinery that Waddell had patented. The new design allowed for a roadway deck, two streetcar tracks, wider sidewalks and two railroad tracks on a lower deck. Four of the main piers were cut down to 10 feet above the high water level, to allow for the redesign of the bridge. Financial difficulties stalled the project, and no further work would be completed. Winner lost the KCB&T to the Kansas City & Atlantic Railroad Company in 1901. The bridge site was passed through various holding companies around the turn of the 20th Century, until the Armour Packing Company, the Swift Packing Company and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad combined to purchase the bridge site and partially completed bridge. The three companies formed the Union Bridge & Terminal Company (UB&T) to construct the bridge in 1903. Unlike previous ventures, the UB&T was soundly funded, but was still delayed in resuming construction on the bridge.

In 1907, F.W. Fratt, President of the UB&T approached Waddell and the newly formed firm Waddell & Harrington to redesign the bridge. Between 1894 and 1907, numerous advances to bridge construction had been made. Steel had become the universally accepted building material, and rigid (riveted) connected truss spans were becoming the standard. The redesigned bridge used a revolutionary telescoping design, riveted connections and concrete counterweights, which would hang outside of the towers at the ends of the lift span. The design was presented to Fratt and the UB&T in 1908. Waddell wrote of the presentation of the design: "Mr. Fratt and his associates, after long deliberation, decided to build their bridge". Waddell continued: "but before they would make up their minds to adopt the lifting deck, they had a large working model made of it to scale and operated by electric power; and although this worked to perfection, they were still not satisfied until they had an expert committee of civil and mechanical engineers examine the plans, specifications, and model and report upon the efficiency and practicability of the design". Nonetheless, the design was approved, and construction began in 1909.

Now known as the Fratt Bridge, the new design utilized two railroad tracks on a lower deck, as well as two streetcar tracks and a roadway deck for the top deck. All nine of the original stone piers would be reused for the new structure. In addition, a long series of approach viaducts would carry the roadway and streetcar over the surrounding stockyards and railroad yards. James O'Connor & Son received the contract for modifying the existing stone piers to accommodate the new bridge design, as well as constructing concrete substructures for the bridge. The McClintic-Marshall Construction Company fabricated and erected the superstructure. The final bridge design would use three 428-foot, 14-panel riveted Baltimore through truss spans for the main structure. The southernmost span was designed to be a telescoping vertical lift span, where the lower deck lifts, while not interfering traffic on the upper deck. The lift span would utilize large towers, with concrete counterweights on the outside of the towers. The railroad deck also utilized a single 60-foot deck plate girder span on the south approach, underneath the southern lift tower. Baltimore through truss spans became popular in the early 20th Century, as they were versatile, economical and durable spans, particularly for long spans. At 428 feet, the three truss spans of this bridge are among the longest Baltimore through truss spans constructed.

The approach viaducts consisted of a variety of spans. The north approach utilized 30 deck plate girder spans of varying sizes, set onto steel bents and towers. A 128-foot, 8-panel riveted Baltimore through truss span carried the roadway across the Wabash and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Tracks. In addition, the first seven spans north of the truss spans were superelevated to account for a curve, and a 3-percent grade was used for the remaining approach. The south approach utilized 16 deck plate girder spans of various sizes, as well as a 290-foot, 12-panel riveted Baltimore through truss span across the Chicago & Alton Railroad and Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks. While plans show that the 290-foot span also had unusual mid-level longitudinal bracing in the truss lines, photos show that this was never constructed. The bridge would open to traffic in late 1911, and streetcars began using the bridge in 1913. The bridge soon adopted its current name, the Armour-Swift-Burlington (ASB) Bridge.

John Alexander Low Waddell had become prominent as a bridge engineer during the 1890s, specializing in railroad bridges. While lift bridges had been in use on some scale for centuries, Waddell developed the first mechanized vertical lift bridge at Duluth, Minnesota in 1892; although this was objected by the War Department. The first vertical lift span constructed was the South Halsted Street Bridge in Chicago, constructed in 1893. Waddell quickly obtained patents for the vertical lift design, preventing the design from being further constructed or improved upon. The second vertical lift bridge would not be constructed until Waddell partnered with John Harrington to form Waddell & Harrington in 1907. Waddell was often on the forefront of revolutionary bridge design, often convincing railroads to try unique and experimental spans. While a unique and convenient design, only one other bridge of this design would be constructed in Oregon. Waddell & Harrington continued to develop and patent the vertical lift design, designing numerous roadway and railroad lift bridges throughout the United States.

As use of the bridge grew, residents became frustrated with the high tolls the bridge charged to cross. The State of Missouri purchased the bridge in 1927, and renewed the floor system throughout the roadway deck. In addition, the southern five spans would be filled with an earth embankment, and the tolls removed from the bridge. The deck girder span over 2nd Street on the roadway viaduct would be replaced in 1932. Through the following years, further alterations were made to the roadwat deck to allow for greater traffic demand. The streetcar tracks would be removed from the bridge in 1948. In 1953, the north end of the bridge was reconstructed, when two 60-foot deck plate girder spans were added to widen the channel of the river. These new spans would be set onto concrete substructures, constructed by the L.G. Barcus Company. Further alterations were made in 1981, when the railroad deck was reconfigured to shift the single remaining railroad track to the west side of the structure.

By the early 1980s, traffic across the bridge had become significant, and the approach structures were severely deteriorated. The Heart of America Bridge would open immediately downstream of this bridge in 1986, and the approach viaducts were demolished in 1987. At this time, the bridge was transferred to Burlington Northern Railroad (later BNSF Railway). The railroad portions of the bridge were strengthened, repaired and painted to ensure the railroad deck remained in good condition. One stone pier remains near the north end, and all other remains of the approaches have been removed. The remaining pier was not used in the approach viaduct, but was constructed for the original 1890 bridge design. Overall, the remaining bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, and still carries significant railroad traffic for BNSF Railway. The author has ranked this bridge as being nationally significant, due to the unique design. Despite the significant alterations to the trusses and the removal of the approach viaducts, the bridge is an excellent example of a unique span designed by John Alexander Low Waddell, and is undoubtedly one of the most important bridges in Missouri. A selection of photos from the Historic American Engineering Record has been added to show the approach viaducts prior to removal.