Prototype Girder Bridge Support


GNMT76

Active Member
My c. 1947-55 layout (the GN in Montana) has a 40-foot long dry creek bed and a through girder bridge in need of a supporting structure.

In the prototype, would a girder bridge ever be supported across its entire length by a trestle only or, as I've seen in a few photos, by stone or concrete piers with a small wooden trestle anchored in the ground at each end?

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Do you mean like this?
1529257242946.png
 
My c. 1947-55 layout (the GN in Montana) has a 40-foot long dry creek bed and a through girder bridge in need of a supporting structure.

In the prototype, would a girder bridge ever be supported across its entire length by a trestle only or, as I've seen in a few photos, by stone or concrete piers with a small wooden trestle anchored in the ground at each end?

Thanks!

The point of a steel girder bridge is to span an unsupported gap. It would be supported at each end, not in the middle.

If a clear span wasn't required, they could just build the wooden trestle straight across the entire distance.
 
Last edited:
I've opted to go with a different style crossing instead. My partially-built thru girder bridge (kit) is now for sale. See the "Items for Sale" thread for details.
 



Back
Top