The Burlington Bridge is a vertical-lift railroad bridge 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

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000 United States Census, 2000. Burlington ...

, and

Gulfport, Illinois Gulfport is a village in Henderson County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 42, down from 54 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Burlington, IA–IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. The village was ...

, United States. It is owned by

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 ...

and carries two tracks which are part of BNSF's Chicago–Denver main line. The current bridge is the third that has existed at the same location. The first, a single-track

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

constructed in iron—the first all-metal structure to cross the Mississippi—opened in 1868, in the federal reconstruction phase post the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Built as part of the network of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CBQ)—commonly known as the Burlington Route—it formed an important part of the federal railroad route between Chicago and Denver. Due to increasing traffic levels, in 1893 the CBQ reconstructed the bridge as a double-track, and it was further strengthened in the 1930s to allow for heavier freight cars. The CBQ later became part of

Burlington Northern Railroad 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 ...

in 1970, and later BNSF.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...

'' crosses this bridge. On May 1, 2008, five fully loaded

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s broke loose during a period of high water. One struck the bridge and became lodged under it. The bridge was closed until midday on May 2, when one track was opened after it was deemed safe. The barge was removed during the afternoon of May 3 and the other track was reopened that evening bringing the bridge back to full use to carry the dozens of trains that cross it daily. In the same year, the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

declared the bridge a danger to navigable traffic. This meant both that the bridge had to be replaced, and that funding for such could be eligible for federal funds. Following the passing of the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a Stimulus (economics), stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed ...

, and a successful application for federal funding supported by the Coast Guard, the BNSF Railway began work to replace the bridge in late 2009. The project was split into two phases, with the lift span being built first by Ames Construction, of Burnsville, Minnesota, and the approach trusses built by the Walsh Construction Company of Chicago, Illinois. The lift span was complete and operational by February 2011, while the remainder of the bridge was not officially dedicated until October 2012. File:CBandQ RR Bridge Burlington Iowa 1891.jpg, The Burlington (C. B. & Q. Railroad) bridge in 1891 File:Burlington Rail Bridge.jpg, The Burlington Rail Bridge in 1985, showing the long pier on which the swing span pivoted

References

External links

* *, discusses Chief Engineer George S. Morison and his many bridges, including this bridge.
RiverWeb
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Burlington Rail Bridge , bridge signs = ''BNSF Railway'' , upstream = Great River Bridge , upstream signs = Iowa 163

, downstream =

Fort Madison Toll Bridge The Fort Madison Toll Bridge ( the Santa Fe Swing Span Bridge for the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Santa Fe Railway) is a tolled, double-decked swing bridge, swinging truss bridge over the Mississippi River that connects Fort Madiso ...

, downstream signs = ''BNSF Railway'' Railroad bridges in Iowa Railroad bridges in Illinois Bridges over the Mississippi River BNSF Railway bridges Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Buildings and structures in Burlington, Iowa Vertical lift bridges in the United States Vertical lift bridges in Illinois Bridges in Des Moines County, Iowa Towers in Iowa Plate girder bridges in the United States Bridges completed in 1867 1867 establishments in Iowa 1867 establishments in Illinois Historic American Engineering Record in Illinois Historic American Engineering Record in Iowa Interstate railroad bridges in the United States

See also

References

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