Northwestern Railroad Bridge

Abandoned Deck Truss Bridge over Chippewa River

Eau Claire, Wisconsin

In 1870 and 1871 the Western Wisconsin Railway and St. Paul and Taylors Falls Railway began a joint project to build a line connecting St. Paul, Minnesota to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

The line also connected to Augusta and points east via a line that was built the same time.

Starting in St. Paul, the line would leave on the east side, cross the St. Croix River at Hudson, and continue through such towns as Roberts, Baldwin, Woodville, Knapp and Elk Mound before arriving on the north side of downtown Eau Claire. The main terminal was east of Eau Claire in Altoona.

The railroads were purchased by the Chicago, St. Paul Milwaukee and Omaha, which later started to dissolve into the Chicago Northwestern.

Over the next 40 years the line experianced major changes. Many sections of the line were relocated.

Also, in 1911, 1912 and 1913 a second mainline track was built. This resulted in many relocations, and many new bridges.

Perhaps the most famous of all these is the relocation off of the 1880 bridge over the Chippewa River in Eau Claire, and onto a new bypass around the north side of town. This also meant a new double track bridge was built about a mile above the old bridge. This happened in 1903, and the bridge was rebuilt in 1911.

The line was heavily used to get to Milwaukee from places such as Sioux City via the Twin Cities.

The second mainline was removed in many places around 1963. Although some segments of it still exist.

The Union Pacific came into control of the Chicago Northwestern in 1995. Today this line still is a mainline, and is known as the Altoona Sub. It sees a half-dozen trains a day.
12/02/12

This is the oldest railroad bridge in the city of Eau Claire. It is a massive deck truss bridge over the Chippewa River.

The bridge lies right below the dam, and about half a mile below the giant double track bridge.

This bridge is magnificant. The massive stone piers that it rests on are just that, massive.

The four deck truss spans were built 1880, while the deck plate girder spans were built 1898.

The girder spans replaced smaller Deck Truss spans of a similar design. Although it was half the length

Here is the composition of the bridge (from east to west):
1-90' Deck Plate Girder 4-180' Lattice Deck Truss 1-80' Deck Plate Girder

Getting to this bridge is a lot easier than it once was. There are views from Madison Street, downstream.
Also, the west side is easier. The bridge can be accessed from 1st St on the west side. One could climb down the bluffs and get to the bank.

The east side can be accessed from Forest Street. There are 2 railroad bridges next to each other over Forest Street. Walk down the abandoned tracks and get to the road below. There are stairs north of the bridge.

Those bridges are Forest Street Bridge (North) and Forest Street Bridge (South).

This bridge has been abandoned since 2007. It was used for 137 years though :)

This is the only known bridge with the quintuple intersection lattice deck truss design!!!!

Work began in the spring of 2012 to make it a trail. Currently, the engineering designs are being finalized and it should be a trail by the end of 2012!

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Chippewa River Railroad Bridges

The photo above is looking from the west bank. This is one of the harder views of the bridge.



The photo above is from the west bank. The photo below is looking at pier #2.






The photo above is looking at the west end of the 1st truss span. Thre photo below is looking under the main spans from the west bank.






The photo above is from the west bank. The photo below is looking at pier #3.






The photos above and below are looking at span #2.






The photo above is looking from the west bank. The photo below is looking at a walkway through the bridge.






The photo above is looking at pier #2. The photo below is looking at span #1.






The photo above is looking at spans #3 and 4. The photo below is looking at pier #3.






The photos above and below are looking from the west bank.






The photo above is looking at pier #1. The photo below is looking east into the truss span.






The photo above is looking at the west abutment. Note how much the span is raised. The old Deck Truss approach was thicker. The photo below is looking east across the bridge. Note the bikers.






The photo above is looking east across the bridge. The photo below is looking west across the bridge.






The photo above is looking at a plate on the east approach span. The photo below is looking at the east abutment.






The photos above and below are looking west along the bridge.






The photo above is looking at the east approach. The photo below is looking from atop a large hill.






The photo above is looking from the access road which used to be a railroad spur. The photo below is looking from the east bank.






The photo above is looking at span #3. The photo below is looking from the east bank towards spans #1 and 2.






The photos above and below are looking from the east bank.






The photo above is looking at span #2. The photo below is looking at span #1.






The photo above is looking from the east bank. The photo below is looking at pier #4.






The photo above is looking at the east abutment. The photo below is looking at a plauque that shows this bridge in 1882. The plaque is located at the Phoenix Park Railroad Bridge






These next 4 photos were taken in January 2012.

The photo above is looking at the end of span #4. The photo below is looking at pier #5.






The photo above is looking at the design of the truss. The photo below is looking at pier #1.

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