Newest Railroad Bridges in America

Our rail bridges in St. Louis are getting old, Eads 1874, Merchants 1889, and MacArthur 1917. There's some talk of a new one. What are the newest rail bridges out there? Have any major ones been built in America post WWII?

quincunx wrote:Our rail bridges in St. Louis are getting old, Eads 1874, Merchants 1889, and MacArthur 1917. There's some talk of a new one. What are the newest rail bridges out there? Have any major ones been built in America post WWII?

BNSF has done a few major and several minor bridge replacements recently, among which are the second Plattsmouth Bridge across the Missouri (http://www.bnsf.com/employees/communica ... -05-b.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and the new Burlington Rail Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_Rail_Bridge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) across the Mississippi.

Moderator's Note: Also, good topic, but not one for the General Discussion: Passenger Rail forum. Moved to the Railroad Operations, Facilities, Maps and Resources forum.

I've been thinking about a new one for St. Louis and how much it would cost. Our new highway bridge, the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, and its approaches cost $700M. Would a new railroad bridge and approaches likely to top $1B?

quincunx wrote:I've been thinking about a new one for St. Louis and how much it would cost. Our new highway bridge, the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, and its approaches cost $700M. Would a new railroad bridge and approaches likely to top $1B?

Including approaches, on a new alignment, in a metropolitan area, over a major waterway... perhaps, The proposals for freight rail over (or under) New York Harbor, either at the Verrazano Narrows or under Liberty Island, definitely top $1B. Most of the new construction is meant to replace old bridges though, either those currently in use or on a formerly-abandoned alignment, so that would be much less expensive.

The Latah Creek bridge west of downtown Spokane on the BNSF mainline (and including Latah Junction, the junction between the ex-GN and ex-NP mainlines to the west) was built between 1971 and 1973.

The Willamette River Bridge, south of Wilsonville on the then Burlington Northern's Oregon Electric line (now Portland & Western Railroad) was built in 1975.

The Union Pacific is in the middle of building a new bridge on the Willamette River near Harrisburg to replace a former Southern Pacific swing-span bridge currently at the site. (http://www.hamil.com/projects_union-pac ... ilroad.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

The new Kate Shelley Bridge at Des Moines IA was placed in service by the Union Pacific in 2009. It replaced the old Kate Shelley Bridge built in 1900. There is a page on wikipedia about Kate Shelley explaining who she was and why the railroad has a bridge named after her.

Thames river Bridge in New London on Amtrak's NEC.

bulleit wrote:The new Kate Shelley Bridge at Des Moines IA was placed in service by the Union Pacific in 2009. It replaced the old Kate Shelley Bridge built in 1900. There is a page on wikipedia about Kate Shelley explaining who she was and why the railroad has a bridge named after her.

This is what I was trying to think of the name. thanks for posting this...

Soon, NS will be replacing Erie RR's bridge over Genesee River in Letchworth park. It is suppose to start the construction this sumer.