BNSF Big Blue River Bridge (Crete)

Located north of US Highway 6 in Crete, this historic deck girder bridge carries the BNSF Hasings Subdivision across the Big Blue River. The previous bridge at this location was located immediately south of the current bridge, and utilized a 148-foot pin connected Pratt through truss span, set onto stone piers and approached by timber trestle. In 1901, the CB&Q sought to improve the crossing, and constructed a parallel bridge immediately to the north. The new bridge would consist of two 75-foot deck plate girder spans, approached by four 30-foot twinned deck plate girders on the east end, and three 30-foot twinned deck plate girders on the west end. A 20-foot steel stringer span was also installed on the west end. The substructures of the new bridge would be constructed entirely of concrete. An identical arrangement of 30-foot twinned deck girders and a 20-foot steel stringer were added to the original bridge, and new concrete piers constructed. The 75-foot deck girder spans would be standard CB&Q spans, fabricated by an unknown company. The 30-foot spans for both bridges were originally fabricated in 1879 by Kellogg & Maurice for the First Plattsmouth Bridge. Upon relocation, 28 spans were combined to make a total of 14 spans, with seven used on each bridge. Most of the First Plattsmouth Bridge was reused at various locations throughout Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.

The original southern bridge would be scrapped prior to 1955. It is doubtful that any of the components of the bridge were reused, due to the age of the structure. The northern bridge continues to serve approximately 15 trains per day, and is part of a BNSF mainline. Railroads often reused steel and iron spans, as it provided a cost effective way to recycle bridge material. As was the case with this bridge, recycled spans were often modified, strengthened or combined to suit the loading requirements at the new bridge. It however is somewhat unusual for a railroad to reuse old components on a mainline, although it appears many of the old Plattsmouth spans were strengthened and are still in active use. Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair to good condition, with only minor defects noted throughout the structure. In particular, it appears the 30-foot spans are in good condition, likely due to the iron content of the spans. The author has ranked this bridge as being regionally significant, due to the reuse of several old spans in the structure.