Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge Construction Photograph Album
name: label: Creator
content: Rila, Carter
label: Creator
content: Ainsworth Bridge Company
place: label: Place
content: Washington (State)
label: Place
content: Snake River
topic: label: Topic
content: Railroad bridges
label: Topic
content: Bridges -- Washington
label: Topic
content: Bridges -- Design and construction
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Carter Rila, 1976.
creator: label: Creator
content: Rila, Carter
label: Creator
content: Ainsworth Bridge Company
setName: label: See more items in
content: Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge Construction Photograph Album
abstract: label: Summary
content: The collection consists of one bound photograph album, 1883-1884, documenting the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge over the Snake River. The images depict machinery, piers, boats, and construction workers.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Built from 1883-1884 by the Northern Pacific Railroad, the Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge crosses the Snake River just above the Columbia River, between Ainsworth, Washington and Burbank (also known as South Ainsworth), in Walla Walla County, Washington. 

The bridge was made of iron and consisted of a 146-foot Pratt through-truss span, a 346-foot swinging drawspan, four 248-foot Pratt through-truss spans, and a 65-foot deck girder span. The first train crossed the Snake River in 1884 on the Northern Pacific Railroad's bridge at Ainsworth, a railroad construction town located at the junction of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The completion of the bridge linked the Northern Pacific's transcontinental line directly to the Oregon Railway & Navigation track down the Columbia River to Portland, and ultimately to Puget Sound. The Northern Pacific reported the total cost of the bridge to be 
$1,135,743. 

Reference

Peter J. Lewty, To the Columbia Gateway (Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1987), 48-49, 113-16.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.15 Cubic feet ((1 box))
phystech: label: Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
content: Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. The front cover of the album is not attached.
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1883-1884
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Transferred to the Archives Center in 2007 from the Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, now called the Division of Work and Industry.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1030
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Photograph albums
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection consists of one series.

Series 1, Photograph Album
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Kristin Davidson (intern), April, 2011; supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 19th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Photograph albums -- 19th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of one bound album of photographs, documenting the construction of the Snake River Bridge from November, 1883 to December, 1883. The images depict machinery, piers, boats, and construction workers.