High Above the Sheyenne

High Above the Sheyenne. High Line Bridge. , The original line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, descended into Valley City, crossed the Sheyenne River and continued out of the valley. Because of the steep grades, "pusher" engines were required to push heavy trains up and onto the plains above. , To avoid these severe grades, a new or "High Line" track was built one mile upstream from the old or "Low Line" track. The new line branches off the old line at Peak, skirts the hills which surround Valley City and crosses the Sheyenne River on the High Line Bridge, rejoining the old line at Berea. Construction on the bridge began in 1906 and was ready for trains on May 8, 1908. , The bridge was of vital importance in moving supplies and men during both World Wars and was guarded by State and National Guard troops to prevent sabotage. , Believe It or Not! , ❖ 1,250,000 cubic yards of earth were moved in the grading phase of this project , that's a wall of earth 1 yard wide, 30 feet high and 70 miles long, the distance from Valley City to Fargo. , ❖ 14,000,000 pounds of steel was used on the bridge , empty coal cars weighing 23 tons each, making a train that's over 3 miles long. , ❖ Approximately 1,000,000 rivets were used in the construction of the bridge. The rivet head diameter is one and seven sixteenths inches. If 1,000,000 rivets were arranged in a straight line, edge to edge, it would create a line of rivets 22.7 miles long. , ❖ The original price, in 1908 dollars, for the High Line Bridge was $750,000. If the bridge were reconstructed in 1999, exactly as built, it would cost nearly $50,000,000. , [photo captions] , . The North Coast Limited, a transcontinental luxury train, made its debut on April 29, 1900, and served Valley City for nearly 70 years. The above is a lid for cigars sold on the train. , . At 3,860 feet long and 162 feet above the bed of the Sheyenne River, the High Line is one of the longest and highest single track railroad bridges in the nation. This marvel of engineering is a striking sight after the relative flatness of the surrounding plains. , . Burlington Northern Railroad was created on March 2, 1970, by a merger of the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern and two other railroads. On September 22, 1995, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Pacific merged to create Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). , . Steel plates, angles and channels were combined and fastened with rivets to form the girders, beams, columns and trusses that make up the structure. Each tower consists of two pair of columns tied together with horizontal and diagonal bracing to provide strength and rigidity. , . The bridge consists of 61 spans, with 45 foot girders crossing the tops of the 30 towers and 60, 75 and 101 foot girders stretching between the towers. Two of the 101 foot spans straddle the river; and the third is over the Soo Line tracks. Each column rests on a reinforced concrete pedestal which measures about 6 feet square at the top but expands to 14 to 18 feet square at the bottom to spread the weight over a large area of subsoil. Some of the pedestals are supported by timber pilings. , . In 1911, Valley City formed a “Chautauqua” organization for which the park was named. It was based upon a movement in Chautauqua, NY, stressing morality, education and inspiration. Every summer families would camp out in this grove for two weeks to be educated and entertained. Several suspension bridges spanned the river here as the area to the east, now part of the golf course, was also used. , . Because the High Line Bridge is such a prominent feature of our city, it is often seen in business logos such as this oatmeal box. Although the manufacturer and date of this label are unknown, the style of the packaging appears to be from the mid-1930’s. , . Structural members were fabricated in Michigan and transported by rail to the site, assembled and erected. While bolts were used to attach the tower legs to the pedestals and the girder ends to the crossmembers, nearly all other connections were made with rivets. Approximately one million rivets were used. , . The rivets used in this structure consisted of a rounded "manufactured" head and a 7/8 inch diameter shank. The rivet was heated red hot and inserted into the holes until the manufactured head was tight against the metal. A die was placed over the end of the shank, which was driven with a power hammer to form the "driven" head. During the driving process, the shank would expand to fill the hole and the heads would bring the pieces of steel into tight contact.