In 1857, the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad continued building west from Burlington, Iowa to the Skunk River near Rome, Iowa.
Work would resume in 1859, extending to Ottumwa. Ottumwa was a major junction point in Iowa, and the crossing of the Des Moines River.
The same railroad would again expand west in 1866, reaching Albia by the years end. In 1867, it would continue to expand west. It reached Creston in 1869.
The railroad would continue to expand west into Nebraska from here. At the same time, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad built a bridge over the Mississippi River at Burlington, which opened 1868.
The Peoria and Burlington Railroad became part of the CB&Q in 1864, and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad would become part of it in 1875.
Almost immediately, the line became wildly successful. The route provided a direct connection between Chicago and places west. Because of this, double tracking projects were undertaken. The first major project was between Chariton and Ottumwa, which occurred between 1879 ad 1886.
The next major project provided double track between Mt. Pleasant and Burlington in 1889. However, the largest project occurred between 1899 and 1901, which resulted in the relocation of track between Mount Pleasant and Ottumwa, as well as Chariton and Creston.
The railroad would also do relocation work between Ottumwa and Osceola in the 1930s and 1940s, which still lasts today. This work reduced the grades and curves; and allowed for more efficient operation.
The CB&Q eventually merged with the Great Northern and Northern Pacific in 1970 to form Burlington Northern. In turn, BN merged with rival Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe in 1996 to form BNSF Railway, which currently operates this line.
The line is known as the Ottumwa Subdivision, and sees a very steady base of traffic.
12/10/22
Located between Rome and Mt. Pleasant, this large deck truss bridge crosses the Skunk River in a remote location.
Built in 1899, the bridge consists of three massive deck trusses. The eastern two trusses consist of 7-panel pin connected Pratt Deck Truss structures. These two spans were strengthened in 1931. The center span was strengthened using trusses from the original west span, and the east span was strengthened using the trusses from the nearby Big Creek Bridge in Mt. Pleasant. At the same time, the original western span was replaced with a new riveted span.
The westernmost truss is a 7-panel, riveted Warren Deck Truss with a standard two truss lines. The trusses are approached by a series of deck girder spans, set onto steel towers. Concrete piers and footings support the entire bridge.
These trusses are not common for this route. The Pratt spans are of particular interest, because of the four truss lines. Recent rehabilitation work has included the upgrading of the various connections on the bridge with bolts, and a replacement of some stringers. The chords on the bridge form a complex web of heavily reinforced truss.
On the approaches, a King Bridge Company plaque was found. King Bridge Company did a lot of work with railroad bridges, although this appears to have been one of their biggest railroad projects in the area. The work for double tracking this line appears to have been split between Lassig Bridge & Iron Works (and successor American Bridge) and King.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in goof to fair condition. Recent rehabilitation have restored this bridge to good operational condition.
The author has ranked the bridge as being regionally significant, due to the large scale design and heavily reinforced trusses.
The photo above is an overview. The bridge can be accessed on the west side from a public access area.
A special thank you goes out to the Burlington Route Historical Society Archives for helping uncover the history of this bridge!
| Upstream | Coppock Rail Bridge |
| Downstream | Wever Rail Bridge |