UP Salt Creek Bridge

Located near Haymarket Park in Lincoln, this through truss bridge was one of two parallel crossings of Salt Creek in this area. This bridge was originally built as part of the Beatrice Branch, and the first bridge at this location likely consisted of a timber truss or pile trestle bridge. In 1916, the original timber bridge was reportedly replaced with a secondhand steel truss span. The bridge consisted of a 110-foot, riveted, quadrangular lattice through truss span, set onto timber pile piers and approached by timber pile trestle spans on either end. Missing plaques indicated that that the bridge was fabricated by Lassig Bridge & Iron Works, and abandonment documents indicate that the truss was originally fabricated in 1899 for an unknown bridge. The truss was fabricated by the Lassig Bridge & Iron Works in 1899 at an unknown location, before being moved here. The truss utilized solid and laced members and arched lattice portal bracings, typical of Union Pacific bridges of this design. This particular portal bracing design was used on many Union Pacific bridges between the 1890s and early 1910s. Overall, the bridge appeared to be in fair to good condition at the time of documentation, with no significant deterioration noted. The bridge was initially abandoned in 2003, before being reactivated in 2013 after the parallel BNSF Bridge was abandoned. Early in the morning on February 23, 2026; a fire ignited on the north approach, ultimately collapsing the truss span. The north approach was replaced with a concrete modular girder approach on steel pile substructures, and the bridge reopened by early March. The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the truss design.