The Dungeness River Bridge is the centerpiece of Railroad Bridge Park near the town of

Sequim, Washington Sequim ( ) is a city in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains. The 2010 United States Census, 2010 census counted a population of 6,606. Sequim lies within the ra ...

. It crosses the

Dungeness River The Dungeness River is a long river located in the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It rises near Mount Constance in the Olympic Mountains within the Olympic National Park, flows through the Buckhorn Wilderness, passes by the to ...

. The bridge was first constructed by the Seattle, Port Angeles, and Western Railway, a subsidiary of the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experience ...

(also known as the Milwaukee Road) in 1916. Because of the ready availability of timber, the bridge was built of wood. This first bridge was replaced in 1930. The new bridge was also built of timber, and like its predecessor, is a through

Howe truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a bridg ...

156 feet long and 22 feet high. Two wooden trestles are on the east and west approaches. After the Milwaukee Road's bankruptcy, the bridge was left abandoned. In 1992, volunteers began to work on the bridge and replace planking and created a bike trail. In 1995, the property surrounding the bridge was purchased by the Washington State Audubon Society, which then created the Dungeness River Center and a park, called Railroad Bridge Park. The bike path through the park and over the bridge is connected to the Olympic Discovery Trail, a rails-to-trails initiative. The bridge was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

due to its being one of the last timber Howe through-truss railroad bridges still remaining in Washington. In February 2015, due to high winds and rainfall, the Bridge's center collapsed. The repaired and improved bridge was reopened in March 2016.

References

Notes Bibliography *Soderberg, Lisa. ''Dungeness River Bridge''. OAHP Inventory, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, Olympia Washington. 1979. On file at the National Park Service, Washington, DC. *Soderberg, Lisa. '. National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form. On file at the National Park Service, Washington DC.

External links

Dungeness River Center
{{National Register of Historic Places in Washington Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Railroad bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Bridges completed in 1930 Bridges in Clallam County, Washington Railroad bridges in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Clallam County, Washington Howe truss bridges in the United States Wooden bridges in the United States