1868,1892,1930,2012 BNSF/CB&Q Bridge over Mississippi River at Burlington, IA

1893: (Bridge Hunter; John A. Weeks III; HAER)

2012: (Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

"This is the first all-metal bridge to cross the Mississippi River. Bridge was built in 1868 as a single track. It was rebuilt in 1892 with a new superstructure, widened to support 2 tracks, and two truss sections were replaced with deck girder spans. The bridge was strengthened once again in 1930 to accommodate ever heavier rail cars....A US Coast Guard study found that this bridge was third among those that were struck most often by barges. It was hit 92 times between 1992 and 2001. As a result, BNSF is reported to be planning to replace the swing span with a lift bridge." [JohnWeeks] And in 2012 the lift span went into service.

"Spans: 6 – 246 ft long fixed through double track spans, 1 – 356.5 ft long swing span" [EngineeringPurdue]

HAER IOWA,29-BURL,5--13
13. PIVOT SPAN, ABUTMENT AND PROTECTIVE PIER. VIEW TO NORTH. - Burlington Bridge, Burlington, Des Moines County, IA

HAER IOWA,29-BURL,5--3, cropped
3. OVERALL VIEW OF BRIDGE AND MISSISSIPPI RIVER. VIEW TO NORTH. 

JohnWeeks, cropped

Oct 2011 photo by Quinn Phelan via BridgeHunter-1893
"And note the new truss ready to go in at the far end too."

Street View

Nathan Holth's comment on BridgeHunter0-2012 called this the "Ugliest Lift Towers In History." He must not have seen the BNSF bridge over the St. Croix River because it has the same Mickey Mouse Ears.

By Bigal888 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23959705
[The cable-stayed bridge in the background is the US-34 Great River Bridge.]

This partially open view gives a good view of the counterweight.

Loco Steve via PlaceAndSee, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
In 2008, the US Coast Guard declared the bridge a danger to navigable traffic. That means that federal funds could be used to replace it. Thanks to the 2008 recession and the subsequent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, replacement work began in 2009. The approach trusses were also replaced by a different contractor. I wonder if the Feds also paid for the approach trusses.
[I don't know why there are steel girder spans on both sides instead of a truss on the river side.]

The above photo was a comment in this photo

While looking for a specific link for Loco Steve's photo, I found this one.

Loco Steve, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

They aim away from the span until they pretty close to the bridge.

0:33 timelapse video @ 0:09

The above is what I wrote in Apr 2022 when I could not find these notes because they did not have the "wwMiss" label. Fortunately, I found these notes before I published the 2022 notes so that I did not end up with duplicate posts. And I added the wwMiss label.

Steven J. Brown posted

(Bridge Hunter (old),  Bridge Hunter (new, 2012), John A. Weeks III, Birds-Eye View)

Steven's comment:

In case you were wondering; It is possible to catch the California Zephyr crossing the Mississippi at West Burlington, Iowa then drive twenty miles and catch the Southwest Chief crossing at Ft. Madison, Iowa. Well, at least it worked out that way for me - June 11, 2002.

Google Photo 

Once again, the Birds-Eye View is the oldest view and it still shows the swing bridge. Bing's satellite image shows the 2012 bridge during construction and Google's satellite image shows it all done.

Bird's Eye View

Bing Satellite

Google Satellite, note a train is going over the bridge.

Update:

I didn't realize that it was so tricky to aim for the opening. Do they come in on an angle because of river currents? No wonder the Coast Guard wanted the movable span changed.

David Gulden posted
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE
Adam DeSimone: Looks like Burlington

Robert Daly posted three photos with the comment: "The BNSF bridge over the Mississippi at Burlington, April 13 2013. It was built in 2010 to replace a former CB&Q bridge from the 19th century and is the newest rail crossing of the river."

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When I saw the road in the foreground of Robert's first photo, I checked out the street view from it.

Street View

Kathy Thomas posted, cropped
ROCK ISLAND passing Burlington IA.
[The paint job indicates it is a USACE towboat. Note the crane on the barge.]

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Dick Hovey posted
October 20, 1986 rear end of an East bounder crosses the Mississippi river bridge at sunset in Burlington.

Jeff Metcalf posted three pictures with the comment: "Burlington Iowa, floated out Old swing span, floated in new Lift Span, and bingo New Bridge."

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Jason Smith posted
A section of the new bridge waiting to be floated into place during the Burlington bridge replacement back in 2011.

Daniel Fredrickson posted three photos with the comment:

I was aboard Amtrak's California Zephyr #6 on Wednesday, and I snapped a few photos of the train crossing the Mississippi River after being delayed about 10-15 minutes for river traffic. Enjoy!

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The National Steel Bridge Alliance of the American Institute of Steel Construction awarded this bridge a prize in 2012 and the announcement page has the following twenty photos of the bridge and its construction.

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Kevin Krotz posted
BNSF lift span bridge over the Mississippi River in Burlington Iowa.
Picture shared with permission from Roy Rocky Phillips

Daniel Fredrickson posted three photos with the comment:

I was aboard Amtrak's California Zephyr #6 on Wednesday, and I snapped a few photos of the train crossing the Mississippi River after being delayed about 10-15 minutes for river traffic. Enjoy!

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Screenshot

(Facebooked)

Jeff Lewis commented on a post

David Webster posted
Ethan Smidt: Burlington looking north

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A video following two SD70MAC locomotives in the executive paint scheme as they cross the bridge

Chuck Morris: Best looking diesel locomotives ever: CB&Q E5, GN SDP45 in Big Sky Blue, ATSF F7 Warbonnet, and BN/BNSF SD70MAC in Cream and Green.

Justin Sandlin: No 40/idle, no locomotive isolation, no TripOptimizer, just coal railroading how god intended it. Outstanding video! [I don't understand these but I presume they are various computer controlled functions.]