A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. The basic types of truss bridges shown in this article have simple designs which could be easily analyzed by 19th and early 20th-century engineers. A truss bridge is economical to construct because it uses materials efficiently.
A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames. A trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a stool or a pair of isosceles triangles joined at their apices by a plank or beam such as the support structure for a trestle table. Each supporting frame is a bent. A trestle differs from a viaduct in that viaducts have towers that support much longer spans and typically have a higher elevation.
The Quincy Rail Bridge is a truss bridge that carries a rail line across the Mississippi River between West Quincy, Missouri, and Quincy, Illinois, USA. It was originally constructed in 1868 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, a predecessor of BNSF Railway.
The First Hannibal Bridge was the first permanent rail crossing of the Missouri River and helped establish Kansas City, Missouri as a major city and rail center. The increased train traffic resulting from its construction also contributed to the building of Union Depot, the predecessor to the Kansas City Union Station.
The Centennial Bridge is a through arch bridge road bridge over the Missouri River connecting Leavenworth, Kansas, and Platte County, Missouri. Constructed in 1955, it was initially a toll bridge. The bridge opened in 1955, a year after Leavenworth celebrated its centennial as the first city incorporated in Kansas. It is a two-span arch bridge connecting K-92 and Missouri Route 92. Its main span is 419.8 feet, and its total length is 2,571.2 feet. During the construction a spur of Route 45 called the "Leavenworth cutoff" was built to speed traffic to Kansas City, Missouri. The two-mile spur, even though it is in Missouri, was maintained by the city of Leavenworth until the tolls were removed from the Centennial Bridge in May 1977. This is now maintained by MODOT and KDOT.
Cairo Rail Bridge is the name of two bridges crossing the Ohio River near Cairo, Illinois in the United States. The original was an 1889 George S. Morison through-truss and deck truss bridge, replaced by the current bridge in 1952. The second and current bridge is a through-truss bridge that reused many of the original bridge piers. As of 2018, trains like the City of New Orleans travel over the Ohio River supported by the same piers whose construction began in 1887.
The Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge is a rail truss bridge across the Missouri River between Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska.
The South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge was a continuous warren through truss bridge over the Missouri River connecting Omaha, Nebraska with Council Bluffs, Iowa via U.S. Highway 275.
The Oregon Trunk Rail Bridge or Celilo Bridge is a single-track railroad bridge opened 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, and since 1957 it has included a vertical-lift section. The bridge was designed by engineer Ralph Modjeski and erected by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., of Leavenworth, Kansas.
The Bellows Falls Arch Bridge was a three-hinged steel through arch bridge over the Connecticut River between Bellows Falls, Vermont and North Walpole, New Hampshire. It was structurally significant as the longest arch bridge in the United States when it was completed in 1905.
The Rosendale Trestle is a 940-foot (290-meter) continuous truss bridge and former railroad trestle in Rosendale Village, a hamlet in the town of Rosendale in Ulster County, New York. Originally constructed by the Wallkill Valley Railroad to continue its rail line from New Paltz to Kingston, the bridge rises 150 ft (46 m) above Rondout Creek, spanning both Route 213 and the former Delaware and Hudson Canal. Construction on the trestle began in late 1870, and continued until early 1872. When it opened to rail traffic on April 6, 1872, the Rosendale trestle was the highest span bridge in the United States.
The Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., also known as Missouri Valley Bridge Company, was a engineering, construction, and steel fabrication firm that operated through the late nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries. It was based in Leavenworth, Kansas, with a WWII facility in Evansville, Indiana.
The San Mateo–Hayward Bridge is a bridge crossing the American state of California's San Francisco Bay, linking the San Francisco Peninsula with the East Bay. The bridge's western end is in Foster City, a suburb on the eastern edge of San Mateo. The eastern end of the bridge is in Hayward. It is the longest bridge in California and the 25th longest in the world by length. The bridge is owned by the state of California, and is maintained by California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the state highway agency. Further oversight is provided by the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA).
The Little Pipe Creek bridge and viaduct is a 705-foot (215 m) continuous truss bridge with main span and 19 viaduct sections as well as an active railroad trestle crossing Little Pipe Creek south of Keymar, Maryland. Originally constructed by the Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad Company (F&PL). Construction on the trestle began in late 1871, and continued until April 1872.
Long Bridge is the common name used for a series of three bridges connecting Washington, D.C. to Arlington, Virginia over the Potomac River. The first was built in 1808 for foot, horse and stagecoach traffic. Bridges in the vicinity were repaired and replaced several times in the 19th century. The current bridge was built in 1904 and substantially modified in 1942 and has only been used for railroad traffic. It is owned by CSX Transportation and is used by CSX freight trains, Amtrak intercity trains, and Virginia Railway Express commuter trains. Norfolk Southern Railway has trackage rights on the bridge but does not exercise those rights. In 2019 Virginia announced that it would help fund and build a new rail bridge parallel to the existing one to double its capacity, following the plans that have been studied by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) since 2011.
The Dumbarton Rail Bridge lies just to the south of the Dumbarton road bridge. Built in 1910, the rail bridge was the first structure to span San Francisco Bay, shortening the rail route between Oakland and San Francisco by 26 miles (42 km). The last freight train traveled over the bridge in 1982, and it has been proposed since 1991 to reactivate passenger train service to relieve traffic on the road bridges, though this would entail a complete replacement of the existing bridge. Part of the western timber trestle approach collapsed in a suspected arson fire in 1998.
The Oakland Mills Bridge is a historic structure located in Oakland Mills Park southwest of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, United States. The span carried Hickory Road over the Skunk River for 358 feet (109 m). In July 1876 the Henry County Board of Supervisors decided to locate the bridge over the Skunk River at Oakland Mills. After engineers looked over the proposals, they choose the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company of Leavenworth, Kansas to build the structure. The long-span combination Pratt truss through and pony truss was completed later the same year. The steel components where manufactured by the Phoenix Iron Company of Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest Pratt through truss bridges in Iowa. Long closed to vehicular traffic, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
K-92 is an approximately 44-mile-long (71 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. K-92's western terminus is at K-4 south of the community of Rock Creek, and the eastern terminus is a continuation as Missouri State Route 92 at the Missouri border by the City of Leavenworth. K-92 is co-designated as U.S. Route 59 (US-59) in Oskaloosa, K-16 from Oskaloosa to McLouth, and K-7 and US-73 in Leavenworth. The majority of the route passes through rural farmland and is almost entirely a two-lane roadway, except for the overlap with K-7 and US-73 and a portion of the US-59 overlap, which are four-lane.
The Terminal Bridge was a pontoon bridge and then a through-truss swing bridge at Leavenworth, Kansas. The pontoon bridge opened in 1889. The steel truss bridge opened on January 2, 1894, and was demolished in 1987.
The Black River Bridge near Carrizo, Arizona was funded in 1911 and built in 1912. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It spans the Black River, bringing an army road, now Indian Route 9, over the river from Fort Apache to the railroad at the former town of Rice, Arizona.
