BNSF/GN Whiteline Bridge Over Lake Ewuana (Klamath River) at Klamath Falls

(Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

This bridge is unusual in that the lift span uses girders instead of a truss. Notably, it is only 60' long. This bridge had a movable span because, when it was built in the early 1900s, there were steamboats on the river to support the logging operations. The bridge was built so that Great Northern could served the lumber mills on the west side. (Some sources say Southern Pacific. Looking at topo maps, it is possible that both railroads shared this bridge.) Ironically, rail service made shipping obsolete and a movable span was no longer necessary.

Postcard via BridgeHunter

The logging operations shutdown in the late 1980s [WayMarking], but there must have been a revival because BNSF runs a mill job 5 days a week from their yard. [Scott Palmer post] Not only is there at least one mill still open, they still float logs to it.

Satellite

Randel Gavin posted, cropped
Lake Ewauna lift bridge built in the early 1900’s to allow railroad access from the Southern Pacific lines to the mills on the west side. When Weyerhaeuser closed it’s Klamath Falls Mill, the lift motors were removed and the lift no longer functions. It was needed in the early days to allow steamboats to get to the river. Now owned by BNSF, the line is used to bring compressed gas to a distribution station. It also goes to a small yard that supports a small mill and a nursery.

I learned of this bridge because BNSF had a lumber car fall off the bridge on Feb 11, 2022. There were no injuries.

One of several photos by KalmathAlerts
One photo shows there was a cut of tank cars, but they stayed on the rails. Just the lumber car fell in.

Two photos provided as comments by Aaron Tuck on Scott's post:

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Dalton Windom provided two photos as comments on a post.

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Within 24 hours,  BNSF dropped some freight cars in the South Platte River in Denver, CO.

safe_image for Train derails into South Platte River
'No one is injured, and the Train cars were empty.'
[This looks like an example of stringlining. According to a comment, it was this bridge.
Comments on this post agree it probably stringlined.]

kdvr, this page has some more photos and a drone video. In that video, the two open cars have already been removed.
"BNSF said seven empty lumber derailed, and three of the cars ended up in the South Platte River. The cause is under investigation."
[If the rest of the BNSF employees are as competent as that spokesperson, then BNSF is in serious trouble. Covered hoppers are not lumber cars.]