Oregon Trunk Rail Bridge

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Oregon Trunk Bridge
Oregon Trunk Bridge
Carries Trains
Crosses Columbia River
Locale Oregon Trunk Jct., Oregon
Wishram, Washington
Design Truss
Width Single track
Maps and aerial photos

The Oregon Trunk Rail Bridge is a railroad bridge built in 1912 over the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It consists of eight steel truss spans, and several deck girder spans.

It is part of the Wishram, Washington to Bend, Oregon line of the BNSF Railway. This bridge is downstream of the site of Celilo Falls, now submerged by water impounded by The Dalles Dam. The Dalles-Celilo canal passed beneath the southernmost span, which is a swing span. Completion of The Dalles Dam in 1957 inundated the canal, and the truss span to the north of the swing span was modified to lift for river navigation. All of the bridge's piers rest on rocks that were normally exposed during low water periods. During periods of high water, this stretch of the Columbia River became raging rapids, so the piers were built during low water. The north end of the bridge is a wye, where the rail line from Bend meets the BNSF Portland to Pasco mainline. On the south end of the bridge, the line crosses over and interchanges with the Union Pacific mainline.

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