engineering

Hi-Line Railroad Bridge

Hi-Line Railroad Bridge is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hi-Line Railroad Bridge rather than just read about it. In short: Originally called the High Bridge, the Hi-Line Bridge is a historic railroad bridge located over the Sheyenne River in Valley City, North Dakota. The bridge is 3,860 feet (1,180 m) long and 162 feet (49 m) above the river.

Key takeaways

Hi-Line Railroad Bridge belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hi-Line Railroad Bridge to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hi-Line Railroad Bridge from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Originally called the High Bridge, the Hi-Line Bridge is a historic railroad bridge located over the Sheyenne River in Valley City, North Dakota. The bridge is 3,860 feet (1,180 m) long and 162 feet (49 m) above the river. Construction work began on July 5, 1906, and it was ready for service on May 8, 1908. At the time it was the longest bridge for its height in the world. It currently remains one of the longest and highest single track railroad viaducts in the United States, and was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2005. The Northern Pacific Railroad designed and built the bridge to avoid the steep grades into and out of the Sheyenne River valley. At one time, this was a main link in the railroad's coast-to-coast system and was important during both World Wars. To prevent sabotage during the wars, it was guarded by soldiers. The bridge is still used today by freight trains in the BNSF Railway system. The 61 spans of the bridge are supported on 30 steel towers, each of which is 45 feet long at the top. The distance between towers at their tops is either 60, 75, or, for three of the spans, 101 feet. Two of these long spans are above the Sheyenne River and the third crosses over tracks of the former Soo Line Railroad, now part of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Each of the steel towers is supported on four concrete foundation piers measuring 6 feet square at their tops, and expanding to 14 to 18 feet square at their bases, depending on subsurface conditions. Approximately one million rivets were used in construction of the bridge.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hi-Line Railroad Bridge

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hi-Line Railroad Bridge claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hi-Line Railroad Bridge before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hi-Line Railroad Bridge ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hi-Line Railroad Bridge

In research: Hi-Line Railroad Bridge appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hi-Line Railroad Bridge in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hi-Line Railroad Bridge is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1908 establishments in North Dakota, BNSF Railway bridges, Bridges completed in 1908, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hi-Line Railroad Bridge outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hi-Line Railroad Bridge in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hi-Line Railroad Bridge means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hi-Line Railroad Bridge out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hi-Line Railroad Bridge in simple terms?

Why does Hi-Line Railroad Bridge matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hi-Line Railroad Bridge?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hi-Line Railroad Bridge.