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Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Lake Fork or Sapinero Junction, Gunnison County

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Inventory Number: CO/06-27-U02
County: Gunnison County
Township:
Town/Village: Sapinero
Bridge Name: Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Lake Fork or Sapinero Junction
Crosses: Lake Fork of the Gunnison River
Truss type: Uncovered Howe Through
Spans: 1
Length:
Roadway Width:
Built: Probably 1889
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N38 27.615
Longitude: W107 19.252
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Lake Fork or Sapinero Junction Bridge, Sapinero, Gunnison County, CO Built Probably 1889
Todd Clark Collection

Comments:
6-panel truss. The bridge crossed from the east side of the Lake Fork to the west side, just upstream of the mouth, carrying the Railroad south to Lake City. Vintage photos show that a twin Railroad bridge across the Gunnison just upstream of the river junction was a steel bridge (though it could have originally been an open wood truss), so the Railroad main line was on the north side of the river here. The bridge was probably built in 1889 when the line to Lake City was constructed and appears to have survived into the mid-1930s when the line fell into disuse. A high bridge to carry US 50 (the Rainbow Route) was built in the 1930s and dominates most later pictures.

Sources:
Clark, Todd. Information received by email, April 2012
http://cdm15330.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/72091/rec/34

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