BNSF O Street Bridge

Located east of Emerald, this through girder bridge crosses US Highway 6 (O Street). Originally built in 1930, the bridge was initially constructed for a single track. The bridge originally utilized a single 86-foot through plate girder span, set onto concrete piers and approached by wooden trestle. In approximately 1995, a second track was added to the north side of the bridge, utilizing a similar design. Instead of wooden trestle, the new track utilized concrete modular girder spans. The bridge runs at a skew, and the original 1930 through girder utilizes a standard CB&Q through girder design, with deep tapers on the edges and a ballasted deck constructed of numerous parallel floorbeams. Faded heralds from the CB&Q days can be seen on the south face of the bridge. This design of bridge was commonly used by railroads throughout the United States, as it was durable and easy to construct. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with no significant deterioration noted. The bridge now serves heavy mainline traffic, with a reported 50 trains per day using the bridges. The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.