SKOL Neosho River Bridge (Chanute)

Located north of Chanute, this large through truss bridge carries the former Santa Fe mainline over the Neosho River. Built in 1899, the bridge consists of a 172-foot, 7-panel pin-connected Pratt through truss span. The truss span is approached by a 40-foot "Class A" deck plate girder span on the north end, and a 36-foot "Class A" span and a 58-foot "Class B" deck plate girder span on the south end. The bridge is approached by ballast deck steel stringer spans on both ends, which were added to replace timber pile trestles in 1981. The substructures of the bridge are a mix of stone, concrete and steel pile.

The truss span utilizes a typical design for the Santa Fe during this time period. These spans utilized laced vertical members, pinned connections and a portal bracing which utilizes a double intersection lattice design with subdivided heel bracings. This particular design was used at numerous locations throughout the Santa Fe system, particularly between 1898 and 1910. Several examples of this design can be found throughout Kansas. The Santa Fe utilized a series of standard bridge designs throughout their system, similar to a number of other railroads throughout the United States. This allowed the railroad to streamline construction, while helping reduce engineering costs for bridges. While many railroads adopted the riveted Warren design during the early years of the 20th Century, the Santa Fe continued to use pin connected designs regularly into the late 1910s. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with no significant deterioration noted. The author has ranked the bridge as being moderately significant, due to the truss design.