The Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge is a 4-lane steel girder bridge that carries

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

between

LeClaire, Iowa LeClaire is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,710 in 2020, a 65.4% increase from 2,847 in 2000, making it one of the fastest-growing communities in the Quad Cities. LeClaire is considered a suburb and part of the ...

and

Rapids City, Illinois Rapids City is a village in Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 959 at the 2010 census, up from 953 in 2000. Geography Rapids City is located at (41.581083, -90.344324). According to the ...

. The bridge is named for

Fred Schwengel Frederick Delbert Schwengel (May 28, 1906April 1, 1993) was a Republican United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from southeastern Iowa. Personal background Born on a farm near Sheffield, Iowa, to Germany, German immigrants, ...

, a former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

and one of the driving forces behind the

Interstate Highway Act The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, was enacted on June 29, 1956, when President of the United States, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Bill (law), bill into law. With an ...

. The structure was designed by the

Iowa State Highway Commission The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is the government organization in the U.S. state of Iowa responsible for the organization, construction, and maintenance of the primary highway system. Located in Ames, Iowa, DOT is also responsi ...

, and was built by the Industrial Construction Company of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

(contractor), Gould Construction Company of Davenport, and Roy Ryan & Sons of

Evanston, Indiana Evanston is an unincorporated community in Huff Township, Spencer County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. History A post office was established at Evanston in 1891, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1989. Geography Evanston i ...

who was responsible for the substructure. The bridge opened on October 27, 1966, and is maintained by the

Illinois Department of Transportation The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fuel ...

. It underwent a major rehabilitation project in 1996.

History

On October 5, 1964, a 40-foot steel and wood form was swinging from its roadstead on pier No. 13 after cement was being dumped on it. In 1965, structural steel was installed on the bridge. During that year, officials inspected the bridge. On June 29, 1966, the bridge's center span was installed. The bridge opened to traffic on October 27, 1966. In 1995, the bridge was renamed for former

. He was among the attendees of the October 27, 1966 bridge opening.

Temporary closures

In 2008, the bridge was closed for two months after inspectors found cracks in the steel under the bridge deck. On May 12, 2009, the eastbound lane of the bridge closed after a crack was found in the top flange of the beam. As a result, inspectors visited the bridge and determined on how to repair the beam. The bridge reopened in August 2009. On April 10, 2015, the westbound lanes of the bridge closed for repairs on the joints and reopened on April 14, 2015.

Replacement

Starting in 2020, the

will begin a study, which is expected to cost $20,000, to replace the span. The plan from 2020 to 2025 is to spend $304.5 million on the bridge. By 2025, Illinois is expected to spend $23 billion on concrete, as well as fixing and expanding of roadways and 9 million square feet (836,000 square meters) of bridge decks. The Illinois department will be the lead agency on the project with the state of Iowa sharing in the costs.

Bison Bridge

On March 18, 2021, a plan was announced by

Chad Pregracke Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

to repurpose the Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge into a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

. The proposal gives an estimate that taxpayers would save 30 to 40 million dollars by foregoing the demolition of the bridge. The project would allow both

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

and pedestrians to roam freely between Iowa and Illinois and also place a visitor center directly on the bridge.

References

External links