Located near A Street on the southwest side of Lincoln, this through girder bridge is the southernmost BNSF crossing of Salt Creek in Lincoln.
While a plaque was found on the bridge stating it was built in 1908, it is very possible this bridge is not original to this location. The bridge consists of five spans of through girder, set onto steel pile piers. There are four different sizes of spans found on this bridge.
The plaque found suggests this bridge was built by the Morava Construction Company of Chicago. This is the only known example of a railroad bridge built by this contractor, and the only other two road bridges known to have been built by this company are located in Arkansas.
In a 1955 historic aerial image, this bridge does appear as presently configured at this location. Because this rail line is one of two roughly parallel lines connecting Lincoln and Denton, there has been talk about removing this line from service.
A number of deadly accidents at crossings along this route have sparked thoughts of removing the tracks and routing trains over the largely grade separated Denton Cutoff. This project would require new tracks to be built, and BNSF has not committed to a willingness to make these changes.
If such a project were to be completed, it is hoped that this bridge would be converted to trail use, as Lincoln has a considerable amount of bike trails.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in good condition, with no significant deterioration noted.
The author has ranked this bridge as being regionally significant, due to the large scale design and obscure builder.
The photo above is an overview.