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Webster City Rail Bridge

Quadrangular Through Truss Bridge over Boone River
Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa

Click the Photo Above to See All Photos of This Bridge!
Name Webster City Rail Bridge
Built By Chicago & North Western Railway
Contractor Unknown
Currently Owned By Union Pacific Railroad
Length 320 Feet Total, 120 Foot Main Spans
Width 1 Track
Height Above Ground 20 Feet (Estimated)
Superstructure Type Quadrangular Through Truss and Deck Girder
Substructure Type Stone Masonry and Concrete
Date Built 1902, Approaches Added 1914
Traffic Count 2 Trains/Day (Estimated)
Current Status In Use
UP Bridge Number 35.69
Significance Moderate Significance
Documentation Date April and October 2017
In 1874 the Des Moines and Minneapolis Railway constructed a line from Des Moines to Story City, in central Iowa. It was a narrow guage railroad, later standard in 1880.

The line was continued north by the Toledo & Northwestern Railway in late 1879, and was completed to Blue Earth, Minnesota by 1883. It was a standard gauge line. The entire line came into the Chicago North Western Railway system by 1884. The C&NW owned a large amount of track around Iowa at the time.
The line was a critical C&NW route to connect to the Twin Cities.
Starting from Des Moines, the line would start in downtown, and head north towards Ankeny.
The line would cross the east/west Milwaukee Road mainline at Slater, It would go through Kelley, crossing the Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern before arriving in Ames.
In Ames, it would cross Squaw Creek, and the busy C&NW east/west mainline.
Near Story City, it had to cross a high trestle over Keigly Creek, which was later filled and replaced with a stone bridge.
The line continued through Randall, crossed an east/west C&NW branch line in Jewell, and came into Webster City after crossing the Boone River.
In Webster City, it crossed the Illinois Central line again, and left town crossing the Boone River again.
Continuing north, the route went through Woolstock, and in Eagle Grove crossed a Chicago Great Western Line, and had a CNW line towards Humboldt break off.
It crossed another CGW line in Goldfield, and continued through Renwick and Lu Verne.
At Algona, it crossed over another Milwaukee Road main, and continued through Burt and Bancroft before crossing a Rock Island line near Lakota.

It crossed into Minnesota at Elmore, and joined with another CNW line at Blue Earth.

Several sections were abandoned over time. This included:

Ledyard to Blue Earth in 1968, Ledyard to Bancroft in 1978, Burt to Bancroft in 1985, and Ankeny to Ames in 1985.

The C&NW merged into Union Pacific in 1995. Since this merger, the Ankeny to Des Moines route has been abandoned and will be reused a trail.
The remaining segment, from Burt to Ames is known as the Jewell Subdivision.
06/26/21


The most unique bridge in Webster City is this large truss bridge, on the north edge of town.
This structure was built in 1902, with the approaches added in 1914. Constructed of a pair of massive quadrangular through truss spans, the structure rests on stone and concrete substructures. A single deck girder approach exists on the north end.
The trusses contain riveted connections as well as a unique feature, laced endposts. It is unknown how many structures of this design were built.
In addition, the north abutment has a date of 1901 inscribed into it.

The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the unique truss design.
The photo above is an overview. The bridge can be accessed from a boat launch nearby.

Citations

Source Type

Source

Build Date Chicago & North Western Railway Historical Society Archives
Railroad Line History Source ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele



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