The first bridge at this location was built in 1882 following the disastrous
floods of 1880 and 1881, which washed out all the bridges in the area. This
bridge fell victim to a flood in late July, 1912. A series of heavy rains
topped off by a 8 inch downpour left area rivers at their highest levels in
recorded history. After dams in Merrill and Brokaw failed, a wave of water
rushed through Wausau washing out several dams and every bridge over the
Wisconsin River.
The current Bridge Street Bridge was built in 1987. It is a heavily built
steel girder bridge perched on a series of large reinforced concrete piers.
In addition to crossing the river, the bridge crosses a trail on the west
side, and a rail line, street, storage yard, and park area on the east side.
Despite the bridge appearing to be relatively flat when viewed from the side,
it has a very pronounced hump in the middle when traveling over the bridge.
This hump is made larger by the east side of the bridge being higher than
the west side.
The photo above is a view of the river channel from water level just south
of the structure. The photo below is a close view of the main channel
bridge piers and the bridge structure. The photo at the top of the page
is a view from a bit further downriver as seen from the west bank of the
Wisconsin River.
The photo above is a view from under the bridge from the water level as
seen from the northwest corner of the structure. The photo below is a
view of the south face of the bridge as seen from the embankment at the
southwest corner of the structure.
These two photos are views from the sidewalk on the south side of the bridge.
The photo above is a view from just west of the bridge. The photo below is
a view from about one-third of the way up the bridge hump.
These two photos are the first of three that show a typical bridge crossing
heading towards the east across the Bridge Street Bridge. The photo above
is just entering the structure. The photo above is a view from about half
way up the bridge hump.
The photo above is the third of three photos showing a typical bridge
crossing headed towards the east. In this photo, we are just cresting
the top of the bridge hump. The photo below is a view of the south face
of the bridge taken from the riverbank on the east side of the Wisconsin.
The photo above is the Canadian Pacific railroad tracks as they pass under
the east end of the bridge. The photo below is the west end of the bridge.
A sidewalk crosses under the structure.
The photo above is the east end of the bridge as seen from the river bank.
The photo below is the bridge plate.