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Hillsboro Rail Bridge

Deck Girder Bridge over Goose River
Hillsboro, Traill County, North Dakota

Click the Photo Above to See All Photos of This Bridge!
Name Hillsboro Rail Bridge
Built By Great Northern Railway
Contractor Unknown
Currently Owned By BNSF Railway
Length 210 Feet Total, 70 Foot Main Span
Width 1 Track
Height Above Ground 20 Feet (Estimated)
Superstructure Type Deck Girder and Modern Concrete Slab
Substructure Type Concrete and Steel H-Pile
Date Built 1909, Approach Rebuilt Later
Traffic Count 10 Trains/Day (Estimated)
Current Status In Use
Significance Local Significance
Documentation Date July 2016
In 1881, the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway built a line from Fargo, North Dakota to Grand Forks, North Dakota.
This new line allowed for faster shipments between two of the largest cities in the booming North Dakota.

In 1890, the StPM&M became a part of the Great Northern Railway. The Great Northern continued to operate this line through the 20th century, providing a critical connection between Fargo and North Dakota, which was also accomplished with several parallel lines.
However, the GN preferred this line to the P Line, the Ada Subdivision or the Mayville Line. In 1970, when the Great Northern merged with Northern Pacific and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy to form Burlington Northern; this was well shown.
While the other lines were slowly abandoned, this line became priority for upgrades.

In 1996, the BN merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe to form BNSF Railway, the current operator of this line. It is currently operated as the Hillsboro Subdivision.
07/17/21


This simple bridge crosses the Goose River just north of Hillsboro, North Dakota and parallel to ND-200.
It is comprised of three deck plate girder spans, and is approached by a modern concrete beam type bridge.
Built in 1909, it appears that the north approach was rebuilt in the early 2000s, replacing possibly another beam span.
The bridge rests on concrete substructures. Designs like this are extremely common throughout America, but due to the local terrain of North Dakota, there is little need for any medium and large sized bridges.

Because of this, the author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant.
The photo above is an overview.

Citations

Source Type

Source

Build Date Great Northern Railway AFE list
Railroad Line History Source ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele



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