St. Cloud Rail Bridge

The St. Cloud Rail Bridge is a pin-connected truss bridge that spans the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1892 by Great Northern Railway and was probably designed by the railroad. Two of the piers are stone, while a third pier is newer and made of concrete. The bridge has an extra set of bracing that hangs about ten feet below the bottom trusses, appearing to hang like a hammock. This was added to increase the capacity of the bridge.

St. Cloud Rail Bridge
The St. Cloud Rail Bridge from the Veterans Bridge just downstream
Coordinates	45°33′50″N 94°09′27″W
Carries	One track of the BNSF Railway
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	St. Cloud, Minnesota
Maintained by	BNSF Railway
ID number	74.2
Characteristics
Design	Four-span high deck pin-connected truss bridge
Total length	587 feet
Width	One track
Longest span	170 feet
Clearance below	20 feet
History
Opened	1892
Location

The Bridge is owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe and used by BNSF and Northern Lines Railway to access the truncated rail lines that once extended to the northwest and southwest, west of the Mississippi River. The active rail lines currently extend through St. Cloud and Waite Park, MN with branches extending to St. Joseph, MN and Rockville, MN.

See also

• List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River

References

• Costello, Mary Charlotte (2002). Climbing the Mississippi River Bridge by Bridge, Volume Two: Minnesota. Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications. ISBN 0-9644518-2-4.