An unlikely sight in the verdant plains of Iowa, the High Trestle Trail Bridge in Des Moines Central River Valley, while a work of contemporary art and engineering, has historical roots. The installation, part of a conversion of an unused portion of Union Pacific Railroad track to an accessible hiking trail, was designed by the Des Moines-based RDG Dahlquist Art Studio/RDG Planning & Design. Snyder & Associates provided engineering and design services.
A series of rotated rectangular “portals” that span the 2,640-foot length of the bridge are references to the structural framing that braced the shafts of the coal mines that were once active in the area. Thirty-five feet tall, they are deliberately spaced and positioned to conjure the feeling of moving through time as well as space.
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