The first railroad crossing at this location was built by the Minneapolis & Saint Louis Railroad in 1871. One of the stone piers in the main channel is marked 1917. It appears that the stone bottom sections of the piers are from 1871, and the white color stone at the top was added in a 1917 rebuilding of the bridge. The Minneapolis & Saint Louis became part of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, which in turn merged with the Union Pacific Railroad. The bridge is currently operated by the Union Pacific. The rail line is now a spur and dead ends a few miles northeast of this location.

In late March of 2007, high water weakened a bridge just south of this crossing. That bridge failed, and the train crossing that bridge derailed. Three cars ended up in the water, one completely submerged. The cars were carrying raw materials bound for the American Crystal Sugar plant in Chanhassen. As of May, 2007, the bridge is still closed. It is possible that this bridge will be abandoned rather than being repaired.

Update—the current bridge owner, Union Pacific did in fact file a request in January, 2008, to abandon this rail line and bridge. Local governments are working on ideas for the possible reuse of the bridge as a regional trail. The bridge appears to be in good condition, and the weakened rail line to the south of the river should support foot and bicycle traffic for many years in the future.

Update—two notes of interest. First, in searching through newspapers, I found a blurb in the September 14, 1917 Shakopee Tribune that a crew of 75 men are at work near Carver constructing a new railroad bridge over the Minnesota River. That suggests that the current bridge probably opened in the fall of that year. The second item is finding a photo of the original bridge posted in the Carver city government newsletter. The 1871 bridge appears to be a very interesting structure. The bridge consisted of two wooden truss spans on each end of the bridge, with a swing span in the center. The swing span was built from wood. It used the center pin design, which means that the swing span was a single truss. More recent swing spans use two truss spans that are connected together at the pivot point. A center pin swing span is tricky to get balanced correctly. Even more interesting is that the swing span truss had a rounded top. The swing span was operated manually with a crank mechanism.

Update—as of the Spring of 2010, this bridge is doomed. The two counties on either side of the river have been unable to make a deal with the Union Pacific Railroad to obtain title to the bridge. Scott County considered purchasing the bridge outright, but that deal was scuttled when an inspection found the bridge to be in very poor shape. As a result, the Union Pacific is planning to remove the bridge. It is hoped that either the counties or the state DNR will end up with title to the railroad right-of-way so that a regional train can be built in the future, complete with a new river bridge.

The photo above is a view looking down the length of the bridge deck towards the southeast from the west bank of the Minnesota River.

The photo above is the northwest side of the bridge as seen from about 150 feet upriver from the structure. The photo below is the northwest face of the bridge as seen from the west riverbank.

The photo above is a close view of one of the bridge piers on the northwest end of the structure. The photo above is the northeast face of the bridge as seen from the west bank of the Minnesota River.

These two photos, and the four that follow, are views from the spring flood of 2010. The photo above is the deck plate girder spans at the west end of the railroad bridge. The photo below is the trestle spans on the east end of the bridge. The water level reached the bottom of the steel girders, but did not overtop the bridge.

The photo above is the bridge span over Main Street in Carver. Crews were pumping water that was accumulating in the low spot under the bridge. The levee was built relatively recently. There was once a wood trestle located where the levee now stands. The photo below is a close view of a section of track on the bridge. Note that most of the spikes are loose.

The photo above is looking southeast down the length of the bridge deck. The photo below is looking southeast along the upriver side of the bridge. Note that only the tops of the piers remain above water. Note that the bridge is severely out of alignment at the far end of the structure. The last stone pier has been shifting, resulting in the bridge no longer being straight or level. It has been moving for years, but it appears to have moved significantly since the bridge was abandoned. It is likely no longer safe for a train.