Dakota Southern/Milwaukee RR Bridge over the Missouri River at Chamberlain, SD

(1953 Bridge Hunter; 1923 Swing Bridge Hunter; 1905 Pontoon Bridge Hunter; John Weeks; Satellite)

This flood in 1952 explains why there is now a 1953 bridge.

Greg Bunce posted
Newspaper clipping of the Milwaukee Road bridge at Chamberlain being damaged by the Flood of 1952.

Leana Stunes posted
"Turbulent tons of water created an almost irresistible force, sweeping away barriers. At Chamberlain, a span of railway bridge was washed away. Loaded boxcars were moved out on the remaining spans of the bridge to offer greater resistance to the torrent."

Greg Bunce shared
The Missouri River flood of 1952 took out the pile spans on the west end of the old bridge at Chamberlain, SD.
Justin Mueller: That bridge is fairly high can't imagine water that high.
Greg Bunce: Justin Mueller this is the old bridge that was replaced by the current one.
The current bridge is downstream of the I-90 bridge. It was part of the relocation of the Milwaukee due to the building of the Fort Randall Dam and the flooding of the old row from across from Chamberlain to Oacoma. It was dedicated December 7, 1953. The old bridge was repaired and in use until then.

1939 Chamberlain Quadrangle @ 1:62,500

You can tell that this town is really in the boonies. Neither Google nor Bing have street views from an interstate highway! The satellite image indicates the river is quite shallow here because both road bridges use fill to cross most of the river.

Photo from 1905 Pontoon Bridge

Photo from 1923 Swing Bridge

John A. Weeks III

Some of the seven photos posted by Ted Gregory with the comment:

Dakota Southern Railway
Milwaukee Road heritage
Missouri River crossing
Between
Oacoma and Chamberlain, South Dakota

1

5

6

7

8

Ted Gregory posted
Massive rail bridge across the Missouri River between Chamberlain and Oacoma SD.