Holy crap, that's nasty. Judith River is the biggest trestle on that portion of the NMD, right? 1900-some-odd feet long?
I just wonder what the footings were upon. Piles? Or earth. Being State owned, probably a slightly better chance of repairs. And as the State does not like BN/BNSF monopoly, that could also help. Hopefully... Boxcab E50
Gee, I didn't think bridges were supposed to be able to do that. And I thought the kink in my flextrack was bad...
Seems like I remember all of the steel bridges were sitting on concrete piles. Yep, here is a link to a photo of the trestle. Wow, now I understand how it happened. http://www.flickr.com/photos/montanatom1950/4104380290/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/montanatom1950/4104381492/in/photostream/ I wonder about my Dad's friend, he has a ranch on the Judith River east of Winifred on the Judith River Road, it was excellent mule deer hunting in the breaks, and during the day we would pheasant in the cottonwoods along the river. Good memories, but I'm afraid his house is probably gone.
Where did you come upon that photo? It perfectly describes how that steel monster was twisted like cooked spaghetti.
Yes. The steel bridge piers are sitting upon concrete footings. However, when warranted, before pouring a footing, there are times when pilings are first driven underneath. And on the NMD there are some bad soil conditions. Bentonite clay and more. Fixing this can be done. But cost will be the question. They'll need to re-create a solid base for those footings to sit upon. And that could be a money pit. Boxcab E50
Hemi- From the Great Falls Tribune website, its part of a slideshow. Ken, Yes I see what you mean, notice how the piers directly in the river are reinforced, and they show no stress, and how it was actually a pier not normally in the river that was affected. (erosion). This means that not only would this pier have to be fixed, the next pier to the right would as well. I'm kicking myself for not taking the Charlie Russell train when I had a chance, some day I'm going to learn to never pass up an opportunity when it presents itself.
I sure hope this doesn't mean the demise of another piece of MILW history. Was this the trestle that the MILW and NP shared that had a gauntlet track on it?
No, that is the Spring Creek Trestle just outside (west) of Lewistown, it's made out of wood. It hasn't been used for years because of it's condition. The Judith River steel span is several miles NW.
