Pere Marquette - Manistee River High Bridge
This bridge was built in 1889 for the Chicago & West Michigan Railway, which was later purchased and became a part of the Pere Marquette Railroad's main line from Grand Rapids to Traverse City. In 1911, under PM ownership, the bridge underwent structural reinforcing to double its load capacity. In 1947 the line was acquired by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Eight years later, the C&O finished their acquisition of the parallel route belonging to the PM-controlled Manistee & Northeastern Railroad, having already shifted all traffic onto that route. No longer needed by the railroad, the bridge was dismantled in the autumn of 1955. The site is now a state park.
When built, it was the highest rail bridge in Michigan hence it's name. Removed by the C&O Railroad in 1955 in favor of an alternate route. Footings are still visible. At one time only bridge nearby so it was used by locals to walk across.
- Lost Bridge over Manistee River on former Pere Marquette Railroad in Wellston
- Wellston, Manistee County, Michigan
- Built 1889; Removed 1955
- - Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1911 Reinforcements)
- - Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O; CO)
- Pere Marquette Railroad (PM)
- Mix of deck truss and other building materials.
Length of largest span: 150.0 ft.
Total length: 1,710.0 ft.
Deck width: 8.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +44.27016, -86.00763 (decimal degrees)
44°16'13" N, 86°00'27" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
- Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/579200/4902358 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- 211 ft. above sea level
- Inventory number
- BH 42568 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
- April 21, 2017: Updated by Dave King: Added images
- October 18, 2014: Updated by Brian Parkinson: Historical photos and discription added.
- June 20, 2010: New photo from James Norwood
- May 19, 2009: Updated by James Norwood
- May 17, 2009: Added by James Norwood
- James Norwood
- Michigan Railroads - Article.pdf
- Brian Parkinson - railstoruin [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com