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| Name | BNSF Bridge #84.9 Great Northern Railway Bridge #84.9 |
| Built By | Great Northern Railway |
| Currently Owned By | BNSF Railway |
| Length | 48 Feet Total, 16 Foot Spans |
| Width | 1 Track |
| Height Above Ground | 10 Feet (Estimated) |
| Superstructure Design | Concrete Slab |
| Substructure Design | Concrete |
| Date Built | 1922 |
| Traffic Count | 10 Trains/Day (Estimated) |
| Current Status | In Use |
| Great Northern Railway Bridge Number | 84.9 |
| BNSF Railway Bridge Number | 84.9 |
| Significance | Local Significance |
| Documentation Date | 8/11/2020 |
In 1881, the The Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Company (StPM&M) constructed 115 miles of new railroad, extending from Moorhead, Minnesota; through Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota, to a point four miles south of Grafton, North Dakota. This line would connect the StpM&M lines at Fargo to the StPM&M mainline at Grand Forks. In 1882, the line would be extended to the Canadian Border near Neche, North Dakota/Gretna, Manitoba; where it would connect with the Canadian Pacific Railway. This additional extension provided the StPM&M with a second International connection, with the original connection completed in 1879 approximately 16 miles east at Noyes, Minnesota/Emerson, North Dakota.
The StPM&M was controlled by James J. Hill, a railroad tycoon who
wished to build a railroad network extending from Minnesota to the
Pacific Coast. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the StPM&M acquired and constructed numerous new railroad lines throughout North Dakota, including numerous parallel lines to connect wheat crops in northern North Dakota to the mills at Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1907, the StPM&M would be sold to another Hill company, the Great Northern Railway (GN). The GN utilized this route as a secondary mainline, and the primary connection between mainlines at Fargo and Grand Forks. In 1970, GN merged with rival Northern Pacific Railway and Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railroad to form Burlington Northern Railroad
(BN). The International connection would be removed in 1977, and the Glasston to Neche segment abandoned in 1994. In 1996, the BN merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in 1996, to form BNSF Railway. BNSF leased the Grafton to Glasston segment to Dakota Northern Railroad in 2006. The DN abandoned the line from Glasston to St. Thomas in 2010. BNSF continues to operate the Fargo to Grand Forks segment as the Hillsboro Subdivision, and the Grand Forks to Grafton segment as the Glasston Subdivision. A short segment from Moorhead to Fargo is part of the Propsper Subdivision.
Located near 4th Avenue south of Thompson, this concrete slab bridge crosses an unnamed creek. Built in 1922 to replace an older timber trestle, the bridge consists of three standard 16-foot concrete slab spans, set onto concrete substructures. This design of bridge was used extensively by the Great Northern to replace trestles, as it was durable, easy to construct and cheap. The slab spans would be precast offsite, and later installed at the bridge. This method of construction provided minimal interruption to railroad traffic. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to poor condition, with deterioration noted throughout the bridge. The author has ranked the bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
Citations
| Build Date | Date Stamp |
| Railroad History Citation | ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele |