[2] When the Union Pacific began heading west from Omaha in 1862 there were no railroads connecting to it from the east.

After the Chicago and North Western Railway reached Council Bluffs in 1867, the Union Pacific for a while tried to run freight trains across the frozen river during the winter.

The columns were then filled with rock and concrete to form a base for the masonry piers above the water line.

It was 1,750 feet (530 m) long, with four Whipple trusses on stone masonry piers and three deck spans at each end.

[citation needed] Six trunk lines of railroad used this bridge, with an average 320 freight and passenger trains crossing every 24 hours.

Union Pacific decided to upgrade the Missouri River crossing to handle the traffic and tonnage, and work began in May 1916.

To keep this critical artery open, the replacement bridge was constructed on temporary wooden piles immediately upstream of the 1888 stone piers.