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BNSF County 37 Bridge (Ortonville)

Concrete Slab Bridge over County Road 37
Ortonville, Big Stone County, Minnesota

Click the Photo Above to See All Photos of This Bridge!
Name BNSF County 37 Bridge (Ortonville)
Built By Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway
Contractor Unknown
Currently Owned By BNSF Railway
Length 27 Feet Total
Width 2 Tracks, 1 In Use
Height Above Ground 11 Feet 6 Inches
Superstructure Type Steel Stringer
Substructure Type Concrete
Date Built 1913
Traffic Count 6 Trains/Day (Estimated)
Current Status In Use
MILW Bridge Number O-258 1/2
Significance Local Significance
Documentation Date March 2019


Located on the southern edge of Ortonville, this small concrete slab bridge crosses County Road 37, a former alignment of US-12.
Built in 1913 originally to cross US-12, it was bypassed in 1954 by the new bridge. The bridge consists of a single concrete slab span, a standardized design for this line.
This design was used extensively on the Milwaukee Road, particularly because it was cheap to build and easy to maintain. Along this line, dozens of such spans exist or once existed between Minneapolis and Aberdeen.
Unline the new bridge, this structure is strictly functional and has no defining aesthetic features.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to poor condition. The entire bridge has significant spalling, and several pieces of rebar are visible throughout the structure.

The author has ranked the bridge as being locally significant, due to common design.
The photo above is an overview.

Citations

Source Type

Source

Build Date Construction of new alignment
Railroad Line History Source ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele