The Rock Island Railroad Bridge is BNSF Railway's bridge across the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, at

Rock Island, Washington Rock Island is a city in Douglas County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 788 at the 2010 census. History Rock Island was officially incorporated on N ...

. The structure consists of one through truss, one deck truss, and an approach

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...

History

The bridge was originally built in 1892 for the Great Northern Railway. Bridging the Columbia River was an important component in completing Great Northern's transcontinental link the following year. The site was chosen at

for being the shortest distance between the banks of the Columbia River in

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. In 1925, it was decided to strengthen the main span in anticipation of increased traffic and heavier trains by reinforcing the structure with an additional outside truss frame. and

References

Bridges completed in 1892 Bridges in Douglas County, Washington Great Northern Railway (U.S.) bridges Railroad bridges in Washington (state) Bridges over the Columbia River BNSF Railway bridges Railroad bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Douglas County, Washington 1892 establishments in Washington (state) Trestle bridges in the United States {{Washington-bridge-struct-stub