The Iowa Highways Photo Gallery

Mississippi River bridges

Lansing
	The Black Hawk Bridge carries IA 9 across the Mississippi River from Lansing into Wisconsin, where it becomes WI 82. The bridge opened in May 1931. Like the US 52/IA 64 bridge at Savanna, it features a steel grid deck surface.
	This sign at the foot of the Black Hawk Bridge tells more about its history. This bridge was closed on March 18, 1945, because of ice jams at one of the approach bridges; it remained closed until May 31, 1957. There are more photos of the area near the bridge — which is a common end for IA 9 and IA 26 — on Jeff Morrison's site.

Marquette

The Marquette-Jolliet Bridge at Marquette, named for the two explorers who discovered Iowa in 1673, carries US 18 into Prairie du Chien, WI. It opened November 14, 1974, replacing a suspension bridge that opened on March 10, 1932, but it has a history of structural problems. The bridge closed on January 16, 1981, after major cracks were discovered in the bridge's two girders; it reopened to traffic on August 12, 1981. More photos of the area can be found on Jeff Morrison's IA 76 terminus photos page.

Dubuque
	The four-lane Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge, which carries US 61 and 151 traffic across the Mississippi into Wisconsin. (The Illinois-Wisconsin border runs due east from a point about a half-mile south of here.) This bridge opened August 21, 1982, replacing the old Eagle Point Bridge (dating back from 1902) about a mile north of here.
	This is a shot of the Julien Dubuque Bridge, which carries US 20 across the Mississippi between Iowa and Illinois. It opened August 31, 1943, replacing the Dubuque High Bridge that dated back from November 1887, and became a toll-free bridge in 1954. Plans for a parallel span to widen the capacity to four lanes are underway.
	This is US 20 approaching the Julien Dubuque Bridge from East Dubuque, Illinois. (Photographed by Jay Deetelm)
	Another shot of the bridge, heading westbound on US 20. (Photographed by Jay Deetelm) (See the Dubuque section for photos of US 20's approach to the bridge.)

Sabula

This is the Savanna-Sabula Bridge (US 52/IA 64), taken from the riverfront in Savanna, IL. The bridge opened December 31, 1931, and was a toll bridge until July 1, 1987. It was originally gray in color but was repainted blue by mid-2005. It features a steel-grid deck road surface, which is why it has a 25 MPH speed limit (as does the Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing, which carries IA 9 into Wisconsin where it becomes WI 82). The bridge and a 3-mile-long causeway connect Savanna with the island city of Sabula, where another causeway connects it with the mainland. More photos of the bridge area can be found at the IA 64 terminus photo page on Jeff Morrison's site.

Clinton
	The Lyons-Fulton Bridge takes IA 136 from the north side of Clinton into Fulton, IL, where it runs as IL 136 before intersecting with US 30 east of Fulton. This bridge opened January 20, 1975, replacing an older bridge that dated back from 1891. This serves as the east end of IA 136.
	Side view of the Gateway Bridge (US 30) in Clinton in 1988. The bridge opened June 30, 1956, moving US 30 traffic from the old Lyons-Fulton bridge to this one. The bridge was redecked in 1999 and closed for repainting in 2006. (Photographed by Sandor Gulyas)
	Another view of the Gateway Bridge, taken from a point north of US 30.

Quad Cities area
	The I-80 bridge at Le Claire, as seen from the nearby Iowa Welcome Center. It opened on October 27, 1966, and was renamed for the late Congressman Fred Schwengel, who was one of the driving forces behind the Interstate Highway Act, in 1995. The bridge was closed to eastbound traffic between May 12 and August 14, 2009, after cracks were found during a bridge inspection. It reopened to one lane of eastbound traffic on August 14 but is not expected to fully reopen until sometime in 2010.
	The Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge, which is known by locals as simply the I-74 Bridge, between Bettendorf and Moline, IL. The Iowa-bound span was finished in November 18, 1935, and the Illinois-bound span opened November 23, 1959; it carried US 6 across the river long before I-74 was routed through the Quad Cities. The bridge was a toll bridge until 1970. (Even today, the bridge does not meet Interstate standards due to the lack of shoulders and 50 MPH speed limit; it can get congested during rush hours.)

Dedication plaques for both spans of the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge are present in a park east of the bridge. The plaque for the northbound span (1935) can be seen looking west, while the plaque for the southbound span (1959) can be seen looking east. (The plaque for the first span was originally at the foot of the bridge, but it was eventually moved to its present location.)

	It's officially the Government Bridge, but locals refer to it as the Arsenal Bridge. The double-decked bridge (trains use the upper deck, cars and bicycles the lower deck) is the oldest span across the Mississippi in Iowa, dating back from December of 1896. It runs from 2nd Street in Davenport to the Rock Island Arsenal, where a viaduct connects it to the city of Rock Island. Many used it as a free alternative to the Centennial Bridge in its days as a toll bridge, but the swing span at the far right of the photo rotates (thus closing the bridge) whenever a barge passes through nearby Lock & Dam 15. Most of the lower deck was replaced with a steel grid surface (much like IA 9 and US 52/IA 64) when the bridge reopened in the summer of 2002 after being closed periodically for two years.
	This is the approach to the Government Bridge, looking east from 2nd Street just east of the intersection with Iowa Street.
	This is the Rock Island Centennial Bridge (US 67) between Davenport and Rock Island, IL. This bridge opened on July 12, 1940, and was re-decked in 1995-96; it was a toll bridge before May 2, 2003. Only four toll bridges remain in Iowa: the IA 2 bridge in Fort Madison; the IA 394 bridge over the Des Moines River into Missouri; the IA/NE 370 bridge over the Missouri River into Bellevue, NE; and the US 34 bridge into Plattsmouth, NE.
	A shot of the former Centennial Bridge toll booth in June 2002. The sign above it notes that tolls were the only source of revenue for this bridge. (See the Quad Cities section for photos of US 67's approach to the bridge.)
	The I-280 Bridge, which opened on October 25, 1973. Originally painted blue with gold arches, it was repainted all blue in 2007. It was renamed the Sergeant John F. Baker, Jr., Bridge in 2008 to honor the local Vietnam War veteran who earned the Medal of Honor in 1966.

Muscatine
	The Norbert F. Beckey Bridge in Muscatine, carrying IA 92 traffic across the Mississippi River into Illinois. It opened on December 2, 1972. This serves as the east end of IA 92.
	The old Muscatine High Bridge was torn down after the new bridge was completed, but one of its pillars was preserved for display at Riverside Park.
	A close-up of the two plaques that appear on the pillar. The one on top recognizes the dates that the High Bridge was in service; the one on the bottom recognizes the Mississippi River's record crest during the flood of 1993.

Burlington
	Here is a shot of the Great River Bridge, which carries US 34 into Illinois. This bridge replaced the old two-lane MacArthur Bridge (dating back from 1917) on October 4, 1993. Additional photos of the area around the bridge can be found on the terminus photo page of the former IA 99. (Photographed by Jeff Morrison)

Fort Madison
	The toll bridge that runs from Fort Madison into Illinois from the end of IA 2 dates back from July 1928. It features two decks; the highway runs along the upper deck and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad (who owns the bridge) follows the lower deck. This is also the east end of IA 2.

Keokuk
	The US 136 bridge connects Keokuk with Hamilton, IL. The four-lane bridge opened November 23, 1985, replacing the older toll bridge (dating from 1916) seen in the background, which is still open to railroad traffic. Lock & Dam 19 is visible behind both bridges.