Northern Pacific-BNSF Minneapolis Rail Bridge is a combination

plate girder bridge A plate girder bridge is a bridge supported by two or more plate girders. Overview In a plate girder bridge, the plate girders are typically I-beams made up from separate structural steel plates (rather than rolled as a single cross-section), w ...

and

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

that spans the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. It was built in 1884 by the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

. The bridge was originally built in 1884 with five through-trusses. In 1927, it was renovated with nine plate-girder spans. In 1963, to provide upstream river navigation, two girder spans and three regular piers were removed to make room for a

Warren truss Warren Errol Truss, (born 8 October 1948) is a former Australian politician who served as the 16th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Abbott Government and the Turnbull Governm ...

span over the main channel, set on two heavier piers. This work took almost two years. The bridge was originally built to provide access to Northern Pacific's yards just north of downtown Minneapolis. By the 1980s the yards were mostly gone, but the bridge remains as a link to industries located north of downtown that still require rail service by Northern Pacific successor

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

References

* * {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Northern Pacific-BNSF Minneapolis Rail Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Lowry Avenue Bridge The Lowry Avenue Bridge is a steel tied-arch bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, completed in October 2012. History The original structure was built in 1905 and utilized a 5-span truss bridge design. This bridge lasted ...

, upstream signs = , downstream = Broadway Avenue Bridge , downstream signs = Bridges in Minneapolis Bridges over the Mississippi River Railroad bridges in Minnesota Bridges completed in 1884 Northern Pacific Railway BNSF Railway bridges Plate girder bridges in the United States Warren truss bridges in the United States

See also

References