The Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge was a Whipple through
truss bridge that was the first road bridge to cross the
Missouri River connecting
Omaha, Nebraska and
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...
. It was replaced in 1966 by the
Interstate 480 girder bridge
A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box.
The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge de ...
.
History
Originally called the Douglas Street Bridge, the bridge was built by the
Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Company
The Omaha and Council Bluffs Railway and Bridge Company, known as O&CB, was incorporated in 1886 in order to connect Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha i ...
in 1888 at a cost of $500,000. It was designed to handle
streetcars and replaced a ferry service that had opened in 1854.
It was originally built as a single bridge. Due to increased demand, they built a twin sister bridge next to the existing one. It was the
Lincoln Highway bridge from 1913 to 1930. (Notice the L for Lincoln Highway in the picture.) It was then the Highway 30 bridge, then Highway 30A, then Highway 30 S until its destruction.
Tolls
It was a toll bridge. As automobiles became more popular, there were resentments about the tolls. In 1895, a group of businessmen formed the "
Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben" ("Nebraska" spelled backward). In 1938, they sold bonds to finance the purchase of the bridge for $2,350,000. They continued to charge tolls until 1947, at which point the bonds were paid off and the structure, along with the
South Omaha Bridge
The South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge (originally the South Omaha Bridge but renamed the Veterans Memorial Bridge in 1995) was a continuous warren through truss bridge over the Missouri River connecting Omaha, Nebraska with Council Bluffs, Iow ...
, became free bridges. The hated toll booths were paraded through Omaha before a crowd of 35,000 observers to celebrate Free Bridge Day on September 24, 1947. The estimated traffic on the bridge doubled the following year.
Replacement and removal
It was replaced in November 1966 with an unnamed I-480 girder bridge (I-480 was to go on and be named the "
Gerald R. Ford Freeway" after the native son President). Attempts were made to salvage the bridge as a pedestrian walkway, but it was demolished in 1968 although the east pier remains in the river just south of the interstate on the Council Bluffs side.
U.S. Route 6 overlaps the interstate to cross the river.
See also
*
List of crossings of the Missouri River
References
External links
"Douglas Street Bridge" Omaha Public Library.
{{Crossings navbox
, structure = Crossings
, place =
Missouri River
, bridge = Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge
, bridge signs =
, upstream =
Interstate 480 bridge
, upstream signs =
, downstream =
Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge
, downstream signs = ''Union Pacific Railroad''
Bridges in Omaha, Nebraska
Road bridges in Nebraska
Buildings and structures in Council Bluffs, Iowa
Bridges over the Missouri River
Bridges completed in 1888
Demolished buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska
Demolished bridges in the United States
Bridges in Pottawattamie County, Iowa
Road bridges in Iowa
Former toll bridges in Iowa
Former toll bridges in Nebraska
Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights
Buildings and structures demolished in 1968
Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States
1888 establishments in Iowa
1888 establishments in Nebraska
1968 disestablishments in Iowa
1968 disestablishments in Nebraska