- Great River Bridge
Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name= Great River Bridge
caption=
official_name=
also_known_as=
carries= 4 lanes ofUS 34
crosses=Mississippi River
locale=Burlington, Iowa andGulf Port, Illinois
maint=Iowa Department of Transportation
id=
design=Cable-stayed bridge
mainspan= convert|660|ft|m|0
length= convert|1245|ft|m|0
width= convert|27|ft|m|0
clearance=
below= convert|60|ft|m|0
traffic=
open=October 4 1993
closed=
toll=
map_cue=
map_
map_text=
map_width=
coordinates= coord|40|48|43|N|91|05|44|W|region:US_type:landmarkThe Great River Bridge is an asymmetrical, one-tower
cable-stayed bridge over theMississippi River . It carriesU.S. Highway 34 fromBurlington, Iowa to the town ofGulf Port, Illinois .Construction began in 1989, but work on the main tower did not begin until April 1990. The main tower is convert|370|ft|m|0 in height from the top of the tower to the riverbed. During the
Great Flood of 1993 , 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 toll steel bridge built in 1917. The new bridge is five lanes wide (two westbound, three eastbound) 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 eastern most pylon of the bridge on theHenderson County, Illinois side of the river. The bridge was closed while it could be inspected by theIowa Department of Transportation for damage and repairs. A third barge continued downstream, striking the BNSF Railroad ownedBurlington Rail Bridge . The bridge was reopened the following day.On
June 17 2008 , the bridge was closed due to flooding. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/06/17/midwest.flooding/index.html Flood shuts down Mississippi River bridge (CNN.com)] ]ee also
*
List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River References
*Fields, Ron. "Bridge spans a decade." "The Hawk Eye Newspaper", [http://www.edkraemer.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=115 http://www.edkraemer.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=115] via [http://www.edkraemer.com/index.asp 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", [http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Barge-web-050108] , Thursday, May 1, 2008
External links
* [http://www.pubs.asce.org/WWWdisplay.cgi?9400647 Civil Engineering Database]
Crossings navbox
structure = Bridges
place =Mississippi River
bridge = Great River Bridge
bridge signs =
upstream =Keithsburg Rail Bridge
upstream signs =
downstream =Burlington Rail Bridge
downstream signs =
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