This bridge was built in 1884 by the Union Bridge & Iron Works for the Wisconsin Central Railroad. The Wisconsin Central was pushing west, and this bridge was the last link to connect Milwaukee and Chicago to St. Paul.

The bridge features a number of very well crafted cut-stone piers. There were nine 160-foot deck truss spans, plus one 160-foot though truss span, and 25 more plate girder spans 30-feet in length.

From an operational standpoint, this bridge was a huge problem. The St. Croix river valley is about 220 feet deep, but the bridge is only 85 feet tall. That meant that trains had to descend into the valley, cross the bridge, then climb out some 130 feet. This often required trains to include extra engines along with helper engines pushing at the back. The Wisconsin Central decided to build a new high bridge that would cross the valley at the 200 foot level, eliminating the grades. The new Arcola High Bridge opened in 1910. As a result, this bridge was removed on February 28, 1916. The only remains are the rail grades on both sides of the river, and the cut-stone piers in the river.

Both ends of the old bridge location are on private property, there is no public view of the bridge site other than from the water. The images here have been clipped from popular mapping software packages.