Coming into Valley City, North Dakota from the north, I passed under this amazing railroad bridge. On the way back out of town after a stop for gas and a little breakfast, I pulled over and investigated the bridge with my camera. And then I hit up the internet to learn more…
Built from 1906-1908 to flatten out the railroad routing, this bridge was the longest high bridge in the world when it opened for traffic. It’s still one of the longest, highest single-track railroads in the world. It’s still the longest railroad bridge in North Dakota.
The structure is beautiful in its symmetry and engineering. There are 30 steel towers supporting 61 spans, with the whole bridge using 14 *million* pounds of steel. It must have been worth the effort to the railroad to avoid the steep grades in and out of the Sheyenne Valley.
The bridge used to be critical infrastructure for the coast-to-coast railroad network, especially during the world wars. Soldiers guarded it during both wars, that’s how key it was to production.
There’s something about a bridge I can’t resist, especially when the design is so visible. I’m not sure the engineers were going for beauty; they were probably way more focused on functionality. The end result, though, is both beautiful and functional. More than 100 years old, it’s still used by the BNSF railroad on a regular basis.
Want to Know More?
- High Line Bridge history
- Ghosts of North Dakota (a great website)
The slow nuanced experience of a single country is always better than the hurried, superficial experience of forty countries.
Rolf Potts
This steel bridge is so similar to the Poughkeespie Railroad Bridge – now the Walkway over the Hudson. 212 feet above the Hudson, it was built to transport goods from west to east (& fica-versa). There was a huge fire on the east end in the early 1970s, leaving it unusable. Fortunately many visionaries gathered and it is now a public walkway, part of the NYS Park System.
I love the Walkway! I walked across it in 2018 and was so happy the whole way, to see people enjoying the Hudson that way and appreciating the views and the river, it was amazing. I think if I lived close enough (and I did at one time, but it was still the abandoned railroad bridge back then), I would walk it every day just to experience the moods of the river.
Thanks for the lesson about the bridge. I love bridges too. The photos were awesome.
Have you visited the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia? It’s part of our newest National Park now.
I haven’t, but it’s on my list 🙂