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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Then and Now: Union Pacific railroad bridge

1973: The massive steel Union Pacific railroad bridge, built around 1914, passes above the falls and over the Monroe Street Bridge, left, in this aerial photo. The bridge carried the Union Pacific and Milwaukee Road trains to the Union Depot in downtown Spokane and passed closely to the Montgomery Ward department store at far right, which since the early 1980s has been serving as Spokane City Hall. The bridge was torn down in late 1973 as part of the preparations for Expo ’74, the world’s fair. (SPOKESMAN-REVIEW PHOTO ARCHIVES)
1973: The massive steel Union Pacific railroad bridge, built around 1914, passes above the falls and over the Monroe Street Bridge, left, in this aerial photo. The bridge carried the Union Pacific and Milwaukee Road trains to the Union Depot in downtown Spokane and passed closely to the Montgomery Ward department store at far right, which since the early 1980s has been serving as Spokane City Hall. The bridge was torn down in late 1973 as part of the preparations for Expo ’74, the world’s fair. (SPOKESMAN-REVIEW PHOTO ARCHIVES)
By Jesse Tinsley jesset@spokesman.com(509) 459-5378

After several years of negotiations with railroad companies, the promoters of the 1974 world’s fair were making progress in the early 1970s, though it was slow.

The 1970 merger of the Great Northern, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and the Northern Pacific railroads into the Burlington Northern helped smooth the process of clearing railroad infrastructure. But the formidable Union Station building, dating to around 1914, and its elevated trestles were another challenge. The Union Pacific had a massive steel bridge that carried trains across the Spokane River chasm and over the Monroe Street Bridge.

Glen Yake, Spokane’s assistant city manager for engineering, said the removal of the 60-year-old trestle would be one of the most difficult demolition jobs undertaken for the coming fair. Yake said the complicating factors included the unusually large tonnage of steel involved and the depth of the Spokane River chasm at over 100 feet in the air.

Also complicating the matter were ongoing disputes between the Union Pacific, its subsidiary the Oregon Railroad & Navigation and its partner in the Union Station, the Milwaukee Road, over decades of trackage fees, delaying the approval for demolition of the towering bridge, which was now useless after the station’s closure.

In June 1973, Judge George T. Shields signed an order giving the city of Spokane clearance to begin dismantling the railroad trestle east of the Monroe Street Bridge. The city had initiated a condemnation action against the property to speed up the creation of a public viewpoint.

While the railroad’s legal wrangling continued, the OR&N and Union Pacific stipulated to the action. With only seven months until the fair’s opening in May, experts from Controlled Demolition Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland, working for demolition contractor Iconco, set off eight shaped explosive charges to start bringing down the bridge in late October 1973. Critical points on the bridge had been weakened with jackhammers and torches before the charges were detonated. Unexpectedly, a large section fell into the main channel of the river and would have to be recovered with cranes later. In addition to the $271,000 bridge contract, Iconco would also get the contract to tear down the Union Station.