Hastings Rail Bridge : Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hastings Rail Bridge

Bridge in Hastings, Minnesota

44°44′48″N 92°50′52″W / 44.74667°N 92.84778°W / 44.74667; -92.84778CarriesCanadian Pacific Railway and the Amtrak Empire BuilderCrossesMississippi RiverLocaleHastings, MinnesotaMaintained byCanadian Pacific RailwayID numberL-268CharacteristicsDesignLift bridgeTotal length1,755 feet (535 m)Longest span324 feet (99 m)Clearance below60 feet (18 m) (span lifted), 21.9 feet (6.7 m) (span down)Rail characteristicsNo. of tracks1HistoryOpened1981StatisticsDaily traffic20.0 trains per day (as of 2014^[update])^[1]Location Map

Hastings Rail Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Hastings, Minnesota. It is one of only four lift spans on the Mississippi River, the others being at Hannibal, Missouri, Burlington, Iowa and in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. It was built in 1981 by Milwaukee Road and was designed by Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff.

It crosses the Mississippi river in a north–south orientation from Hastings just upstream of Point Douglas, where the Saint Croix River empties into the Mississippi river. In addition to CP Rail traffic, the bridge also carries Amtrak's Empire Builder across the river.

Another nearby lift bridge is the Prescott BNSF lift bridge, in Prescott, Wisconsin that crosses the St. Croix River. The two tracks converge at the St. Croix interlocking tower.

References

^ Missouri Department of Transportation (2017). The Merchants Bridge rehabilitation program (PDF) (Grant application). Figure 10: Rail Traffic Volumes Overlaid with Seismic Hazard, 2014.

Costello, Mary Charlotte (2002). Climbing the Mississippi River Bridge by Bridge, Volume Two: Minnesota. Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications. ISBN 0-9644518-2-4.