The Missouri River begins at Three Forks, Montana, where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers come together. It flows 2,341 miles before draining into the Mississippi River, just north of St. Louis. Currently a 9’ deep navigation channel is maintained from Sioux City to the mouth, 700 miles in length. Bridges crossing over this channel must have sufficient clearance for barge traffic, which operates from March until November. I have numbered the bridges from 1 to 32, starting at the mouth. These are not official bridge numbers.
Openings-
I’ve concerned myself with the opening year for each crossing, rather than that for
the bridge existing at that location. Quite a few of these bridges have been replaced over the years, and their opening for service is of course more recent than what I
have listed for each crossing. The first crossing was at Hannibal (#9), dating from 1869, and still in use by BNSF. This was followed two years later by the Wabash’s St. Charles Bridge (#2) and the Rock Island’s Fort Leavenworth Bridge (#11). Twenty crossings were constructed downriver from Sioux City, 17 of them opening during the 1800s. The newest of these is the Harry S Truman Bridge at Kansas City, from 1945. Upriver from Sioux City, only two of the ten crossings date from the 1800s, both on the Northern
10-C&NW / BNLeavenworth
The Union Bridge Company constructed this swing span for the Leavenworth Terminal Railway and Bridge Company during 1893. This bridge was on the mainline of the Chicago Great Western, which used trackage rights on Missouri Pacific south
of Leavenworth to reach Kansas City. Other users of this crossing were the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific. CGW purchased the bridge during 1910, and retained ownership until absorbed by the Chicago and North Western in 1968. C&NW bought the superior CRI&P line to Kansas City during 1983, allowing the abandonment of this bridge in the mid 1980s. WikiMapia
x-Yankton Meridian Bridge
Known as the Meridian Bridge, this crossing was constucted between 1920 and 1924. The lower deck was designed to facilitate a railroad, an option that remained open until 1953. Yankton’s 3 railroads, the Great Northern, the Chicago and North Western, and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific, all decided against extending across the river into Nebraska. WikiMapiaTerraserverWikipediaJohnweeks.MeridianWebsite
Traffic- never used
Bridge type- fixed, built as a lift bridge
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Jefferson River Crossings
The Missouri River begins in Three Forks, Montana, where the Jefferson and Madison Rivers join. The third fork is the Gallatin River, which meets the Missouri a short distance downriver. The Jefferson River is 207 miles long, beginning at Twin Bridges, MT, where the Big Hole and Beaverhead Rivers join.
The Northern Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroads each built 2 bridges over the Jefferson. Both of the NP bridges remain in use.
1-CMSP&PThree Forks
The mainline of the Milwaukee Road crossed the Jefferson River twice, and was in service from 1909 until it was abandoned during March 1980. WikiMapiaTerraserver
Passenger- a truncated remnant of the Olympian Hiawatha operated over this bridge until January 1964.
Traffic- abandoned
Bridge type- fixed
2-MRLSappington
After the Northern Pacific completed their mainline through Helena, a second line across the Continental Divide was opened during 1888 to serve Butte. Burlington Northern continued to operate the line after 1980 until it
This forum software can’t handle really long posts as well as the Snitz forum did, so I decided to do this list in 4 parts. The first post will cover the 9 crossings from the mouth of the river to Kansas City. The second post runs from the 10th bridge at Leavenworth to the 19th at Sioux City. The third post will cover the 20th crossing (Chamberlain) to the head of the river, and the 4th post covers the 3 rivers that form the Missouri.
I get it now. I thought you were pairing cities accross the river from each other. As far as I know, the town accross from Chamberlain has always been called Oacoma. That’s what was throwing me. Don’t forget to include the “also ran” Meridian bridge at Yankton, in the honerable mention category.[:)]
I have enjoyed reading your trackside guides greatly. I have one question and a possible correction. Are all your crossings supposed to be railroad crossings? If so, then I think one error is at Nebraska City, NE. As far as I know, no railroad crosses the river there, just Highway 2. The Burlington Northern, or it’s predecessor, The CB &Q, abandoned it’s line into Nebraska City from Iowa, and the old steel bridge structure was torn down, possibly in the 1980’s. Also, the adjacent highway bridge was replaced with a modern steel and concrete structure, about a mile downstream from the old bridges. The maps indicate this, but the photos are of old bridges which have been removed.
I am listing past and present crossings. I believe the Nebraska City bridge was blown up (for removal) on December 15, 1984. I am planning on finishing the third post before working on the first two so I won’t have to scroll down as much. I will also list #3 MKT, #7 Choteau and #10 Leavenworth as abandoned.
And I thought a good answer might show up on the Milwaukee Road Yahoo group-
According to official records of the CM&PSRwy as conveyed from C.F. Loweth, then Engineer and Superintendent of B&B, the date(s) in the railroad’s Record of Constuction of the Missouri River Bridge, Mobridge, S.D. are as follows:
May 21, 1906 First materials towed by boat from Evarts to bridge site. Sept 21, 1906 Tracks laid to Pontis October 12, 1906 First excavation started but quickly stopped due to failure to finding loose shale at unexpected depths. March 6, 1907 Excavation began again. March 18, 1908 Steel Erection Finished March 19, 1908 A C-1 engine, hauling 16 cars loaded with steel rails. was run across the bridge, and passenger train No. 3 of March 19, 1908 also passed over the bridge. April 28, 1908 All riveting on the bridge was completed. August 18, 1908 Painting was completed.
Construction was initiated on a temporary bridge at the site on May 21, 1906 and finished on April 21. 1907 only to be washed out on May 29, 1907. A replacement temporary bridge was started June 8, 1907 and it was finished on June 16, 1907 but was washed out on June 25, 1907. Another replacement bridge was started on July 5, 1907 and was completed on July 18, 1907. It remained in service until after the completion of the permanent bridge (3/18/08). It was then torn down and removed.