CPKC Philhower Road Bridge

Located southeast of Afton, this deck plate girder bridge carries a former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) line over Philhower Road. The first bridge at this location consisted of a timber pile trestle bridge, constructed in the late 19th Century. Between the 1920s and 1940s, the Milwaukee Road invested significant capital into their lines, replacing timber bridges with steel structures. In 1941, a new bridge was constructed at this location, using a rebuilt secondhand girder. Currently, the bridge consists of a 35-foot deck plate girder span, approached by three 14-foot ballast deck timber pile trestle spans on either end. The entire bridge is set onto timber pile substructures. It is believed that the superstructure was originally fabricated in approximately 1900 by an unknown contractor for use at unknown location(s). The superstructure consists of four shallow girders, constructed with an open floor. The use of four girders possibly implies that this span has material from two different deck plate girder spans. The girders are arranged as four equidistant girders, with lateral bracing also composed of short plate girders. There is some evidence that the span was rebuilt for use at this location, such as empty rivet holes and unused bracing on the interior of the span. Unknown contractor(s) fabricated the main span, and the Milwaukee Road Bridge & Building Department constructed the approaches and substructure. The Milwaukee Road often rebuilt short plate girder spans into "twinned" spans, with the alterations made at the bridge shop in Tomah, Wisconsin. Railroads often reused steel and iron spans, as it provided a cost effective way to upgrade bridges on branch lines without requiring large amounts of new material. During the 1930s, the Milwaukee Road upgraded bridges on numerous main and secondary lines, freeing up secondhand spans for reuse. The Milwaukee Road preferred to reuse spans wherever possible, and continued the practice into the late 20th Century. Since the initial construction, the bridge has seen few alterations, and remains in regular use. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with no significant deterioration noted. The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design and unknown history.