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Winona, Minnesota, is located between St. Paul and Lacrosse on the westerly bank of the Mississippi River. It already had a railroad bridge across the Mississippi built in 1871. The Winona and Southwestern Railroad (later Winona and Western Railroad) ran from Winona northwesterly along the river to Minnesota City and then ran southwesterly through Rochester towards Osage with plans to extend to Omaha. The railroad was looking for a bridge to connect with railroads in the State of Wisconsin and to provide access to the rich iron, copper, and lumbering regions of Northern Wisconsin. It joined with the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad and the Green Bay, Winona, and St. Paul Railroad to form the Winona Bridge Railway that would build the bridge.
Congress passed, “AN ACT to authorize the Winona and Southwestern Railway Company to build a bridge across the Mississippi River at Winona, Minnesota” on August 13, 1888.” Section 1 stated in part, “Said bridge shall be constructed to provide for the passage of railway trains, and at the option of said corporation, its successors and assigns may be so constructed, to provide for and be used also for the passage of wagons and vehicles of all kinds, for the transit of animals, and for foot passengers, for such reasonable rates or tolls, to be fixed by said company, its successors or assigns; and the Secretary of War shall have the right, from time to time, to revise, prescribe, and determine such rates of toll.”
Section 2 stated in part, “Provided, That if said bridge shall be constructed as a draw-bridge, the same shall be constructed as a pivot draw-bridge, with a draw over the main channel of the river at an accessible and navigable point, and with spans giving a clear width of water-way of not less than two hundred feet on each side of the central or pivot pier of the draw, and the next adjoining span or spans to the draw shall give a clear width of water-way of not less than three hundred and fifty feet; and every part of the superstructure shall give a clear headroom of not less than ten feet above extreme high water-mark: Provided, That all spans shall be so located as to afford the greatest possible accommodation to the river traffic, and a draw shall, if practicable, be located next or near shore: Provided also, That in case of a low bridge if the physical characteristics of the locality so require and the interests of navigation be not injured thereby, the length of the fixed spans or the number of draw openings may be reduced: Provided also, That for any two adjacent draw-openings of two hundred feet each, one draw-opening of three hundred feet may be substituted if the interests of navigation be not injured thereby.” This is the first act of its kind that contained language permitting changes if navigation was not injured.
Section 5 was also different than earlier Acts authorizing bridges. It stated, “That all railways desiring to use said bridge shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges in the passage of the same, and in the use of the machinery and fixtures thereof, and of all the approaches thereto, under and upon such terms and conditions as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of War, upon hearing the allegations and proofs of the parties in case they shall not agree.”
The State of Minnesota approved the bridge with Special Law Chapter 306 on March 9, 1889. The State of Wisconsin approved the bridge with Chapter 96 on March 14, 1889. With all the approvals the Winona and Southwestern Railroad transferred its grants to the Winona Bridge Railroad Company who would build and run the bridge.
The Chief Engineer of the Winona and Southwestern Railway Co. was D. M. Wheeler, with George S. Morison acting as Consulting Engineer. They prepared the plans that were submitted to the Secretary of War on June 2, 1890, who approved them on July 9, 1890. The truss spans were like those Morison used earlier on the Merchants Bridge at St. Louis. Starting from the Minnesota shore at Winona there was 270 feet of trestle, a 420-foot swing span, a 360-foot Parker Truss called the raft span, two 240-foot-long Parker Trusses and 1,100 feet of trestle. This was followed by 895 feet of embankment in Wisconsin. The bridge was built of both wrought iron and steel members as it was built in the transition period from wrought iron to steel in bridge building. “In general, the compression members are of iron and the tension members of steel, soft steel being used in place of iron in the upper chord of the 360 ft. span. The center panel and a portion of the bottom chord of the swing span are of medium steel.” The wrought iron was, “required to show an elastic limit of at least 24,000 lbs., and an ultimate strength of at least 47,000 lbs. per sq. in.; an elongation of at least 10% in 8 ins., before breaking, and a reduction of area of at least 15% at the point of fracture.”
The Winona and Southwestern track on the Winona side crossed the bridge with a Wisconsin connection to the tracks of the Chicago, Burlington and Northern in West Winona, Wisconsin.
The bridge was for a single track. The width of the fixed spans was 17 feet and the width of the swing span and 360-foot span was 20 feet.
The Swing span plan was published in the Engineering News as shown in Figure 4.
The contractor for the bridge was the Union Bridge Company under Charles Macdonald with shops in Athens, Pennsylvania at an estimated cost of $440,000 and with a completion date of March 1, 1891. They began work on August 1, 1890, on the masonry piers supported by wood piles. The iron and steel were erected on false work. Due to delays at the shop, it was completed four months over the projected date and opened on July 4, 1891. The first trains of the Chicago, Burlington and Northern crossed the bridge on July 15, 1891. Newspapers called it “one of the best on the river” with a final cost of nearly $500,000.
The bridge served until 1985 when it was closed due to maintenance costs and its inability to carry the increase weight of locomotives and cars. It was partially burned in December 1989 and demolished in late 1990. ■
About the Author
Dr. Frank Griggs, Dist.M. ASCE, specializes in the restoration of historic bridges, having restored many 19th Century cast and wrought iron bridges. He is now an Independent Consulting Engineer (fgriggsjr@verizon.net).