Missouri and Mississippi river bridges in Iowa
Bridges are listed north to south. Each bar represents the time the
bridge (and, where applicable, its nearby replacement) has been open.
For exact dates see the tables under the timeline. (Only bridges that
at one point carried a numbered highway are included. Interstate 29
goes over the Big Sioux River and is not listed.)
Dates are compiled from the Library of Congress' Historic American Engineering
Record (HAER), the Iowa DOT's Historic Interstate Completion Map, Jason
Hancock's Iowa Highways
Page, John Weeks' Bridges
and Structures of the Upper Mississippi River, newspaper
microfilm research, and various government and city websites. Letters in
brackets indicate footnotes. A blank space in "Tolls lifted" means the bridge
was free when it opened. Bridges are listed in order one would
encounter them going downstream.
Missouri River
| Bridge |
Opened |
Tolls
lifted |
Closed or demolished |
| Siouxland Veterans Mem. Bridge |
January 15/July 22, 1981 |
|
[A] |
| Combination Bridge |
January 21, 1896 |
February 8, 1951 |
Blown up Feb. 23, 1981 |
| Sgt. Floyd Memorial Bridge |
November 22, 1976 |
|
|
| Burt County Bridge [B] |
December 19, 1955 |
never |
|
| Blair Bridge |
August 1991 [C] |
|
|
| Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge |
June 29, 1929 |
September 29, 1962 [D] |
Blown up November 1991 |
| Mormon Bridge (WB) |
April 21, 1979 |
|
|
| Mormon Bridge (EB) |
December 14, 1952 [E] |
April 21, 1979 |
|
| Interstate 480 Bridge |
October 21, 1966 |
|
|
| Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge |
October 30, 1888 |
September 25, 1947 |
Torn down 1968 |
| Interstate 80 Bridge |
December 15, 1972 |
|
|
| South Omaha Veterans Mem. Br. |
January 18, 1936 |
September 25, 1947 |
2010 (projected) |
| Bellevue Bridge |
1952 |
never |
|
| Plattsmouth Bridge |
February 1, 1930 [F] |
never |
|
| Waubonsie Bridge |
October 17, 1930 |
July 1, 1955 |
Torn down 1986-87 |
| Nebraska City Bridge |
November 1986 |
|
|
[A] Two lanes open January 15, 1981; all four lanes open July 22.
Closed May 6-December 9, 1982, because cracks were found in the
girders. Reopened to four lanes May 1983.
[B] Completed in 1951 over dry land. The Missouri River was then
rerouted under the bridge. (AP
article in Omaha
World-Herald,
October 4, 2003)
[C] Dedication ceremony was August 8, but bridge would not be
open to traffic for a few days (Missouri
Valley Times News, August 9, 1991)
[D] Missouri Valley
Daily Times, September 27, 1962. A plaque at Washington
County Historical Museum says
"Free Bridge Nov. 1, 1962" (picture
here)
but I don't know why that date is different. The bridge was dedicated
July 26, 1929, approximately a month after opening, but US 30 was not routed
onto the bridge until the end of 1931.
[E] Not dedicated until May 31-June 1, 1953 (source)
[F] Although the bridge's year is usually given as 1929, which is when
it was built, HAER
documentation says the bridge wasn't completely done until January 25,
1930,
and opened to traffic a week later. Dedication was not until May 16.
The city of Plattsmouth bought the bridge for $1 on November 30, 2007,
and then it was closed from April 21 to November 9, 2008, for major
repairs (Lincoln Journal Star/Nebraska City News/KMTV websites)
Mississippi River
| Bridge |
Opened |
Tolls
lifted |
Closed or demolished |
| Black Hawk Bridge |
June 17, 1931 |
May 31, 1957 (reopening) |
[A] |
| US 18 Suspension Bridge |
March 7, 1932 [B] |
July 17, 1954 |
Torn down Dec.'74-June '75 |
| Marquette-Jolliet Bridge |
November 14, 1974 |
|
[B] |
| Eagle Point Bridge |
May 1902 [C] |
never |
1983 [D] |
| Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge |
August 21, 1982 |
|
|
| High Bridge (Wagon Bridge) |
November 25, 1887 |
never |
Closed August 31, 1943 |
| Julien Dubuque Bridge |
August 31, 1943 |
December 27, 1954 |
|
| Savanna-Sabula Bridge |
December 31, 1932 |
July 1, 1987 |
[E] |
| Lyons-Fulton
Bridge (original) |
1891 |
never |
Closed
January 20, 1975 |
| Lyons-Fulton
Bridge (current) |
January 20,
1975 |
December 17,
1982
|
|
| Gateway
Bridge |
June 30, 1956 |
December 17,
1982
|
[F] |
| Fred Schwengel Bridge |
October 27, 1966 |
|
|
| Government Bridge |
December 1, 1896 |
|
|
| Iowa-Illinois Mem. Bridge (WB) |
November 18, 1935 |
December 31, 1969 |
|
| Iowa-Illinois Mem. Bridge (EB) |
November 23, 1959 [G] |
December 31, 1969 |
|
| Centennial Bridge |
July 12, 1940 |
May 2, 2003 |
|
| Interstate 280 Bridge |
October 15, 1973 |
|
|
| Muscatine High Bridge |
May 7, 1891 |
never |
Torn down April 1973 [H] |
| Norbert Beckey Bridge |
December 2, 1972 |
July 1, 1987 |
|
| MacArthur Bridge |
March 29, 1917 |
never |
August-September 1993 |
| Great River Bridge |
August/October 4, 1993 [I] |
|
|
| Fort Madison
Swing Span |
July 1928 |
never |
|
| Keokuk Rail
Bridge |
1916 |
January
1949-May 1952 [J]
|
Closed to
vehicles 1985 |
| Keokuk-Hamilton
Bridge |
November 23, 1985 |
|
|
[A] Closed from March 18, 1945 to May 31, 1957, because ice dams
damaged the bridge. (Allamakee
Journal)
[B] North
Iowa Times, March 10, 1932, and special section November 13, 1974, indicate the bridge was open to
vehicle traffic on March 7, 1932. However, the Iowa Highway Commission
did not extend the US 18 designation from the ferry landing to
Marquette until June 7, and the dedication ceremony was June 9 (which
is the date given on the bridge plaque).
Why the two L's in "Jolliet"? According to the state of Wisconsin,
that's the official name, citing documents that gave this alternate
spelling. As a side note, the name on Jol(l)iet's gravestone in Quebec
City, Quebec, has two L's.
[B] Closed January 16-August 12, 1981, because cracks were found in the
girders (New York Times via
Jason Hancock)
[C] Bridge lengthened (additional spans) in 1936
due to construction of Lock and Dam 11. (HAER)
[D] US 61 and US 151 were routed off the bridge May 14, 1969, which
removed a great deal of vehicle traffic, but the bridge stayed open for
car and pickup traffic. (Dubuque
Telegraph-Herald)
[E] Closed for major repairs and installation of current steel deck May 20-December 11, 1985
[F] Closed for redecking February-December 1999, closed for repainting
and reconstruction March-November 2006
[G] Upon completion of the new bridge, the original was temporarily
closed for repairs. Four-lane traffic began December 22, and there was a dedication ceremony January 20, 1960.
[H] Closed June 1-October 12, 1956, because a car slammed into a girder
(Quad-City Times,
August 3, 2007)
[I] The new bridge was built in the same place as the old one. Two
lanes of the new bridge opened in August, and the new bridge was fully
opened to traffic in October.
[J] Bridge temporarily toll-free from January 13, 1949, to late May
1952 (HAER/Keokuk Daily
Gate City)
Page created by Jeff Morrison, August 26, 2007; last updated December 22, 2008
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