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| Name | Bartonville Railroad Crossing Chicago & North Western Railway Bridge #1709 |
| Built By | Chicago & North Western Railway |
| Currently Owned By | Union Pacific Railroad |
| Superstructure Contractor | King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio |
| Substructure Contractor | Cleary-White Construction Company of Chicago, Illinois |
| Design Engineer | William H. Finley |
| Length | 653 Feet Total, 158 Foot Largest span |
| Width | 2 Tracks, 1 In Use |
| Height Above Ground | 20 Feet (Estimated) |
| Superstructure Design | Quadrangular Lattice Through Truss |
| Substructure Design | Concrete |
| Date Built | 1912 |
| Traffic Count | 2 Trains/Day (Estimated) |
| Current Status | In Use |
| Chicago & North Western Railway Bridge Number | 1709 |
| 81.82 | |
| Significance | Regional Significance |
| Documentation Date | 4/7/2017 |
In 1890, the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis Railroad (CP&StL) completed 44 miles of new railroad from Madison, Illinois to Litchfield, Illinois. The railroad became part of the Litchfield & Madison Railway (L&M) in 1900. In 1901, the Peoria & Northwestern Railway (P&NW) completed 83 miles of railroad, extending from the existing Chicago & North Western Railway (C&NW) mainline at Nelson, Illinois to Peoria, Illinois. The P&NW was a subsidiary of the C&NW, and would be fully absorbed by 1902. In 1904, the Macoupin County Railway (MCR) constructed an additional 24 miles from Benld, Illinois to Girard, Illinois. The MCR was acquired by the St. Louis, Peoria & Northwestern Railway (StLP&NW) in 1912. The StLP&NW was another C&NW subsidiary, and constructed an additional 93 miles from Kickapoo (Peoria) to Benld in 1913 before being sold to the C&NW. The same year, the Macoupin County Extension Railway (MCER) completed an additional 3 miles from Girard to Staunton, Illinois before being acquired by the C&NW in 1914. In 1927, the C&NW constructed an additional 2.5 miles to DeCamp, where the line met the L&M. The C&NW obtained trackage rights over the L&M to reach Madison at the same time. This route provided the C&NW with a direct source of quality coal, and connected to other railroads throughout southern Illinois.
The C&NW would become a prominent railroad in the Midwest,
eventually building a system over 11,000 miles long. The L&M would be acquired by the C&NW in 1957, and the C&NW would abandon the line from Mt. Olive to Litchfield in 1961, and from DeCamp to Mt. Olive in 1972. By the late 20th Century, this route slowly had lost importance. In 1995, the
C&NW would be purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad (UP). UP abandoned the line between DeCamp and Stallings in 1998, as well as the segment from Barr to Girard. In addition, the DeCamp to Monterey Junction segment was sold to the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) in 1998. Today, UP operates the Peoria Subdivision between Nelson and Barr, and NS operates the Monterey Branch from Monterey Junction to DeCamp. Portions of the line near Springfield have become part of the Sangamon Valley Trail. When complete, the trail will connect Girard to Athens (Barr).
View historic articles discussing the construction of this line (digitalized by Internet Archive)
Located in Bartonville, this massive quadrangular lattice through truss bridge carries the former Chicago & North Western Railway over Sanitary Road, the Keokuk Junction Railway (former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway) and the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad (former Peoria & Pekin Union Railroad). Constructed in 1912, the bridge consists of a 158-foot, three 118-foot and a 137-foot quadrangular lattice through truss spans, set onto concrete abutments and concrete column piers. These spans were constructed for two tracks, and run at a heavy skew. King Bridge Company fabricated the superstructure of the bridge, while the Cleary-White Construction Company completed the substructure. Typical of C&NW lattice trusses from the era, the bridge consists of heavy members, a heavily constructed floor and an M-frame portal bracing. Most members consist of solid bars, while the center of the trusses use some laced compression members. To accommodate the skew of the bridge, the end floor beams consist of heavy plate girders, which are set onto the concrete columns. The abutments use a standard design, with stepped backwalls installed to accommodate the skew of the bridge. The use of concrete columns was likely chosen due to the heavy skew the bridge is set at. Constructing standard piers would have required significantly more material, and limited operations underneath the bridge.
Although the lattice truss design was popular in Europe, few American railroads utilized the design. While Union Pacific Railroad, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway and a handful of eastern railroads utilized the design to various extents, no railroad constructed as many lattice truss bridges as the C&NW. Between 1878 and 1930, through trusses constructed by the C&NW nearly exclusively used this design. Although lattice trusses were not popular with American railroads after the 1880s, the C&NW relied heavily on this design, as it had proven to be resilient towards derailments and damage. The main drawback of the design was the unpredictable nature, as the structure was not statically determinant. Since the initial construction, the bridge has seen few changes. Currently, only one track on the bridge remains in use. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to poor condition, with significant section loss noted throughout the truss span. The author has ranked this bridge as being regionally significant, due to the large scale use of the quadrangular lattice design.
Citations
| Builders and build date | Railway Age Gazette; Volume 56 Issue 21 |
| Railroad History Citation | ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele |