The Great River Bridge is an asymmetrical, single tower

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

over 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 fl ...

. It carries U.S. Route 34 from Burlington, Iowa to the town of Gulf Port, Illinois.

History

Construction began in 1989, but work on the main tower did not begin until April 1990. The main tower is in height from the top of the tower to the riverbed. During the

Great Flood of 1993 The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood wa ...

, construction continued despite record crests on the Mississippi below. The final cost of the bridge was $49 million, about 16 percent over budget. The Great River Bridge replaced the MacArthur Bridge, an aging two-lane,

cantilevered A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

, steel toll bridge built in 1917. At the time, the bridge was in desperate need of repair, or replacement, as it swayed ominously when two semis crossed the bridge at the same time on the two lanes of traffic. After the bridge was dismantled, the engineers discovered that the supports weren't sunk into the bedrock far enough, causing undermining of the piers. The new bridge is five lanes wide (two westbound, three eastbound), with piers sunk over 90 feet into bedrock, and provides a safer crossing across the Mississippi River than the old bridge.

Events

In the early morning of May 1, 2008, five barges broke loose of their moorings, with two of those striking the easternmost pylon of the bridge on the

Henderson County, Illinois Henderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it has a population of 7,331. Its county seat is Oquawka. Henderson County is part of the Burlington, IA–IL Micropolitan Stat ...

side of the river. The bridge was closed while it could be inspected by the

Iowa Department of Transportation 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 respons ...

for damage and repairs. A third barge continued downstream, striking the BNSF Railroad owned

Burlington Rail Bridge The Burlington Bridge is a vertical-lift railroad bridge across the Mississippi River between Burlington, Iowa, and Gulfport, Illinois, United States. It is currently owned by BNSF Railway and carries two tracks which are part of BNSF's Chicago ...

. The highway bridge was reopened the following day. On June 17, 2008, the bridge was closed due to flooding.Flood shuts down Mississippi River bridge (CNN.com)
/ref> Every year on the second Saturday of May the Great River Bridge Race is run. The race starts at the Iowa on ramp and runs the first mile in Iowa including running up Snake Alley. It then runs across the bridge through Illinois on U.S. Route 34 and finishes on Front St. in front of the Port of Burlington.

References

*Fields, Ron. "Bridge spans a decade." ''The Hawk Eye Newspaper''
https://web.archive.org/web/20060222085230/http://edkraemer.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=115
vi
Edward Kraemer & Sons, Inc.
August 22, 2004. Retrieved January 14, 2006. *The Hawk Eye. "Barge strikes close U.S. 34, BNSF bridges" ''The Hawk Eye''

Thursday, May 1, 2008

External links

Civil Engineering Database
* documenting previous bridge {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Great River Bridge , bridge signs = Iowa 163

, upstream = Keithsburg Rail Bridge , upstream signs = ''Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway'' , downstream =

, downstream signs = ''BNSF Railway'' Bridges over the Mississippi River Cable-stayed bridges in the United States Road bridges in Illinois Road bridges in Iowa Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Buildings and structures in Burlington, Iowa Bridges in Des Moines County, Iowa Buildings and structures in Henderson County, Illinois U.S. Route 34 Bridges completed in 1993 Former toll bridges in Illinois Former toll bridges in Iowa Steel bridges in the United States 1993 establishments in Iowa 1993 establishments in Illinois Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States

History

Events

See also

References

External links