The Alton Bridge was a railroad bridge that carried the
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado ...
(later
Burlington Northern
The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995.
Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...
) across the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
between
West Alton, Missouri
West Alton is a city in St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 359 at the 2020 census. It is located at the tip of the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and is directly across Alto ...
, and
Alton, Illinois
Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend (Illinois), Riv ...
. It was located upriver from, and parallel to, the
Old Clark Bridge. The bridge was built between 1892 and 1894 and was removed shortly after the line was abandoned in 1988. With a total length of , it consisted of eight
through-truss
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 s ...
segments—six
Pratt truss
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 ...
es, one
Pennsylvania truss
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 ...
, and one
pivot-swinging truss.
See also
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List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
This is a list of all current and notable former bridges or other crossings of the Upper Mississippi River, Upper Mississippi River which begins at the Mississippi River's source and extends to its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinoi ...
*
Lock and Dam No. 26 (historical)
External links
Bridgehunter*{{HAER , survey=IL-21 , id=il0474 , title=Alton Bridge, Spanning Mississippi River between IL and MO, Alton, Madison County, IL , photos=44 , cap=3
Railroad bridges in Illinois
Railroad bridges in Missouri
St. Charles, Missouri
Alton, Illinois
Historic American Engineering Record in Illinois
Historic American Engineering Record in Missouri
Interstate railroad bridges in the United States
Pratt truss bridges in the United States
Swing bridges in the United States
Metal bridges in the United States
Pennsylvania truss bridges in the United States
Bridges in Madison County, Illinois
Buildings and structures in St. Charles County, Missouri