Originally called the High Bridge, the Hi-Line Bridge is a historic railroad bridge located over the

Sheyenne River The Sheyenne River is one of the major tributaries of the Red River of the North, meandering U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 8, 2011 across eastern North Dakota, Uni ...

Valley City, North Dakota Valley City is a city in and the county seat of Barnes County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 6,575 at the 2020 census, making it the 12th most populous city in North Dakota. Valley City was founded in 1874. Valley City is kno ...

. The bridge is long and above the river. Construction work began on July 5, 1906, and it was ready for service on May 8, 1908. At the time it was the longest bridge for its height in the world. It currently remains one of the longest and highest single track railroad viaducts in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and was designated as a

National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United Stat ...

by the

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

in 2005. The

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

designed and built the bridge to avoid the steep grades into and out of the Sheyenne River valley. At one time, this was a main link in the railroad's coast-to-coast system and was important during both World Wars. To prevent sabotage during the wars, it was guarded by soldiers. The bridge is still used today by freight trains in the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

system. The 61 spans of the bridge are supported on 30 steel towers, each of which is 45 feet long at the top. The distance between towers at their tops is either 60, 75, or, for three of the spans, 101 feet. Two of these long spans are above the Sheyenne River and the third crosses over tracks of the former

Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is one of the primary United States railroad subsidiaries for the CPKC Railway , one of six U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Saul ...

, now part of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

. Each of the steel towers is supported on four concrete foundation piers measuring 6 feet square at their tops, and expanding to 14 to 18 feet square at their bases, depending on subsurface conditions. Approximately one million rivets were used in construction of the bridge.Barnes County Historical Society, public information kiosk, Chautauqua Park, Valley City, North Dakota.

References

{{Reflist Railroad bridges in North Dakota Buildings and structures in Barnes County, North Dakota Bridges completed in 1908 Northern Pacific Railway Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks 1908 establishments in North Dakota Viaducts in the United States Steel bridges in the United States BNSF Railway bridges Sheyenne River Transportation in Barnes County, North Dakota Valley City, North Dakota