Almora Railroad Crossing

Located on the west side of Elgin near the former station of Almora, this through plate girder bridge carries the former Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway over the former Chicago & North Western Railway, now Union Pacific Railroad. Originally, the two railroads crossed at grade slightly east of this bridge. In 1893, the Milwaukee Road undertook a project to realign, double track and construct a new grade separation at this location. As part of the work, a large fill would be constructed, and a through girder bridge installed over the C&NW. The bridge consists of two 50-foot and one 31-foot through plate girder, set onto stone substructures. The spans of the bridge are set onto a sweeping curve, and run at a heavy skew. In addition, the bridge is slightly superelevated to accommodate the curve. The bridge is constructed for two tracks, uses three girders per span, and has rounded and tapered ends. Because of the skew, the bridge uses an inverse design, where only one face of each end has a 31-foot girder. The center girder of each span is larger than the outer girders, giving the structure an unusual appearance. American Bridge Works fabricated the superstructure, and it is unknown if the stonework was constructed by contract or by railroad forces. Through girder bridges were popular for use with railroads, as they were durable, versatile and easy to construct. Since the initial construction, the bridge has seen few alterations, although the spans have been strengthened with new bolts. Overall, the bridge appears to be in good condition, with no significant deterioration noted. The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.