Cascade Creek crossing near Osier, CO.

A steel trestle is similar to a wooden trestle with steel members. Often plate girders span between the trestle bents.

B.R. 319.95 at Cascade

When the railroad designers came upon the Cascade Creek valley near Osier, they decided that a structure would be needed instead of curving the track up the valley like most other locations. A high timber trestle with 28 bents was built here with the initial construction of the railroad in 1880. Later in 1889 the existing iron trestle was built as a replacement.

The plate-girders (beams) for the bridge were originally ordered in 1881. However, they were used on the Marshall Pass route at several locations. All the parts eventually found a home at Cascade in 1889.

According to the literature, a German company did the original design of the Cascade trestle. On the upstream side a builders plate says "BUILT IN 1889 BY DETROIT BRIDGE & IRON WORKS DETROIT, MICH." This plate must refer to the builder that erected the assembly at the Cascade site.