Clinton Railroad Bridge

Clinton Railroad Bridge
The Clinton Railroad Bridge in 2018
Coordinates	41°50′11″N 90°11′05″W / 41.83639°N 90.18472°W / 41.83639; -90.18472
Carries	Double railroad track
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	Clinton, Iowa, and Fulton, Illinois
Owner	Union Pacific Railroad
Characteristics
Design	Swing bridge
Total length	855 m (2,805 ft)
Longest span	460 m (1,509 ft)
Rail characteristics
No. of tracks	2
History
Constructed by	Pennsylvania Steel Company
Construction start	1901
Construction end	1907[1]
Construction cost	$1 million[2]
Opened	1909
Statistics
Daily traffic	42.9 trains per day (as of 2014[update])[3]
Location

The Clinton Railroad Bridge, also called the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Bridge or more simply the Clinton Bridge,^[1] is a bridge that carries double tracked rail lines across the Mississippi River between Clinton, Iowa, and Fulton (Albany), Illinois. The bridge is a truss bridge with a swing span crossing the main river channel and is adjacent to the Gateway Bridge. The original bridge was constructed in 1858, and the first train crossed the bridge on January 19, 1860. The bridge was the second railroad crossing over the Mississippi River. In 1870, the bridge was declared a post route, therefore stopping the occupation of steamboats and approval of railroads. From 1859 to 1908, the mileage in operation increased from 28,789 to 229,230, prompting the Chicago and North Western Railway to replace the bridge with a new structure in 1900.

The current bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Steel Company. Construction of the new bridge was planned in 1901, and on February 7, 1907, Congress authorized its construction. Construction of the bridge ended in 1907, and the bridge opened in 1909. During that year, the first train crossed the new bridge, and the old bridge was taken down. There are still piers from predecessor bridges next to the current bridge. Through its purchase of Chicago and North Western Railway in 1995, Union Pacific Railroad is the current owner of the bridge. There are possibilities that the current bridge would be replaced. The bridge was listed as “hazard to navigation” by United States Coast Guard in 1996 and by the Iowa Department of Transportation in 2009. In preparation of a replacement bridge, a new depot was purchased in 2017 and new land were purchased in 2018. During December 2020, the Illinois Department of Resources gave notice that a new bridge was planned to begin construction in 2021 with demolition of the existing one to occur in 2025.