BNSF Heart River Bridge (West)

Located west of Mandan, this bridge is the second crossing of the Heart River along the former Northern Pacific Yellowstone Division mainline. The previous bridge at this location was an iron truss, constructed in 1881. In 1905, that bridge would be replaced with a new 200-foot 8-panel pin connected Pratt through truss span, set onto concrete abutments. The truss was fabricated by the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company, and utilized a design supplied by the Northern Pacific. Other spans of the same size and design have been found to be fabricated by different builders. This design of bridge was commonly used by the NP and other railroads throughout the United States to cross large obstacles. Truss bridges offered larger spans, but were often more costly and difficult to construct. Two modular concrete girder spans were added to each end of the bridge in 1999, and set onto steel pile substructures. The original concrete abutments were cut down to accommodate the approach spans. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with no significant deterioration noted. The author has ranked the bridge as being regionally significant, due to the builder and design.