BNSF Sugar Creek Bridge (Dahinda)

Located on the west side of Dahinda, this deck plate girder bridge carries the former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway over Sugar Creek. The first bridge at this location was likely a timber pile trestle. In 1910, the line would be double tracked, and the current bridge constructed at this location. The bridge consists of a 64-foot deck plate girder span, set onto concrete substructures. The northern track of the bridge was fabricated in 1910 by an unknown company. The southern track of the bridge was originally fabricated in 1897 for Bridge #288E (old #421) across Bridge Creek east of Baring, Missouri. When a new arch structure was constructed at that location, the girder span would be moved here. While American Bridge Works received the 1897 bridge contract for the Santa Fe, no plaque on the bridge was found to confirm this. Both tracks use a standard Santa Fe design, and were constructed with a ballast deck. Railroads often reused steel spans, as it provided a cost effective method for bridge replacements. In addition, the Santa Fe used standardized spans, further helping the reuse of old bridge spans. Often, bridges were reused on branch lines, and it is somewhat unusual for a span to have been reused on a mainline such as this. Deck plate girder bridges were popular with railroads, as they were durable and easy to construct. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with no significant deterioration noted. The author has ranked the bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.