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Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

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Northern Pacific Railroad, Crow Wing County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

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Inventory Number: MN/23-18-U01x
County: Crow Wing County
Township:
Town/Village: Brainerd
Bridge Name: Northern Pacific Railroad
Crosses: Mississippi River
Truss type: Uncovered Combination Post Deck & Howe
Spans: 5
Length: 622'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1871
Builder:
When Lost: 27 Jul 1875
Cause:
Latitude: N46 21.379
Longitude: W094 12.635
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: Northern Pacific Railroad at Brainerd.

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Comments:
14-panel truss. Northern Pacific Railroad. Central span was a 14-panel through truss and the adjacent span on either side was a 14-panel deck truss. Each of these spans were 134 feet. Approaches were short shallow deck trusses. Total of 5 spans, counting the shallow spans. The center and western spans of the bridge collapsed under the weight of a passing train. The engineer, fireman, and one or two caboose passengers were killed. A new combination wood/metal bridge was in place by March 31, 1876.

Sources:
Clark, Todd. Information received by email, April 2012
Gardner, Denis P., "Wood, Concrete, Stone, and Steel: Minnesota's Historic Bridges"