Jänhijoki railway bridge

Jänhijoki railway bridge is a railway bridge located in the village of Minkiö railway station in Jokioinen municipality, Tavastia Proper region of Finland. The bridge is located approximately 0.5 kilometers (0.3 miles) south from Minkiö railway station, a station along the narrow gauge Jokioinen Museum Railway.

The bridge was taken in service in 1898, when the narrow gauge Jokioinen Railway was built to connect Humppila with Jokioinen and Forssa. When the narrow gauge railway was discontinued, the bridge was to be demolished and the tracks were to be lifted. The volunteers of museum railway placed a steam locomotive on the bridge to prevent the bridge being scrapped. Finally a six-kilometer (four-mile) long section of railway, including the bridge, was purchased from its previous owner and preserved as a museum railway.

The bridge is 16.2 meters (53 feet) long. When built in 1897–1898 a total of 96 wooden poles each 20 meters (65 feet 7 inches) long were driven in to the clay terrain to inforce the foundation. The bridge abuttments are stone masonry, The bridge has only one span measuring 15,6 meters (51 feet 2 inches) between bearings on each side. The steelwork for the bridge was supplied by Harkort AG from Duisburg, Germany.

On April 24 1918 there was an attempt to sabotage the bridge during the height of the revolution. An explosive charge was placed under the friction bearing at the north end of the bridge and detonated. The explosion caused some damage to the span, causing it to warp. The bridge was temporarily repaired, but complete repairs were not done until in 1928.

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* "Jokioisten rautatie, 100 vuotta liikenteelle avaamisesta", by Mikko Alameri, Reino Kalliomäki, Markku Nummelin, Kari Ojanperä. Published by Museorautatieyhdistys ry., 1998.