Wednesday, May 31, 2017

1935,1975+1960,1975 I-74 over Mississippi River at Molene/Bettendorf

(Bridge Hunter, Historic BridgesJohn Weeks IIISatellite, Street View, Quad-Cities Times has 32 photos)

(Update: more notes on the replacement bridge including construction photos)

John A. Weeks III

Quad Cities Buildings / Landmarks / History posted
From an article published in the DAILY DISPATCH on May 9, 1935.
Dispatch Photo
Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge.
Mississippi River.

Retro Quad Cities posted
Iowa Illinois Memorial Bridge
 87 years of service.
[This became the Iowa (West) bound lanes when the second bridge was added.]
Leonard Lopez Leon: When this bridge opened in 1935, four of the toll takers, two each from Iowa and Illinois were deputized and wore guns to help enforce the law at around the toll booths area.
 
Rick Anderson commented on the above post
Picture of the bridges from the Moline side that appeared in the 1962 Moline High School yearbook. The approaches were altered in the 1970s when it became part of the I-74 corridor.

Bridges Now and Then posted, cropped
Construction of the second span of the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge was completed in 1959 and was dedicated on January 20, 1960. The older bridge was designated to carry Northbound traffic while the new bridge would carry Southbound traffic. (Modjeski and Masters)
David Denenberg: Both to be demolished this [2022] year.

Jan Danielsen posted
Aaron F Barrett going under I-74 bridge Bettendorf, Iowa pool 15. First tow I have seen this year [2019].
[Shipping was delayed after the Winter ice melt because of flooding.]

Modjeski
Built in 1933 and twinned in 1959. It has only two lanes with no shoulders, so talk of replacement has been on going. I saw reference to a cable-stayed design. It appears the current proposal is "dual basket-handle arch bridges with main channel spans of 800 feet" that has 3 lanes with shoulders in each direction. It would also have a "outboard" bicycle and pedestrian path. [Modjeski]

Modjeski

Flickr from Bridge Hunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)

Mike Knox posted
Some Mississippi River Solitude under The I-74 Bridge. The most important parts, very few see/ Appreciate.
Flickr from Bridge Hunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
Boston Public Library

Retro Quad Cities posted
Susan Olson Shaw Going across that single span bridge terrified me when I was little. I would beg to use the Arsenal Bridge.

Retro Quad Cities posted
While we all enjoy driving across the brand new, wide Interstate 74 bridge, here's a look back when the first section of steel was installed on the Iowa side back in 1934.

Retro Quad Cities posted
This is what the I-74 bridge looked like on July 28, 1959 as steel sections were being swung into place. The second bridge cost $8,000,000 to construct.

James Torgeson shared
Steelwork by Bethlehem!

Cathy Hansen Humphreys added three photos taken by her husband to the above post.
1

2

3

Mike Ironman posted, cropped
Mike Ironman posted
[Flood of 2019?]
Mike Ironman posted

The basket-handle arch design for the replacement bridges has been selected for a while. The issue has been funding. An estimate I saw was $791m. [QCtimes] And you know the price will only go up. They also seem to be refining the design because the piers in this conceptualization look different from the Mojeski image above.

Modjeski

Jan Danielsen posted, Jul 2021
Sierra Dawn Pool 15 Bettendorf, Iowa--Moline, Illinois and at Lock and 15 Rock Island, Illinois. Pictures taken from Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa.
Dennis DeBruler: So they finally have both arches done.

Jan Danielsen posted
Kenny Eads Bettendorf, Iowa river pool 15. Northbound. 3-26-22.
 
1 of 3 photos posted by Mary Auliff
M/V Ashley Danielson 
Heading for lock 15 9/28 /22

The old and the new
1 of 3 photos posted by Jan Danielsen, cropped
Paul Brotzge Northbound Mississippi River pool 15 Bettendorf, Iowa. 5-15-23.

Since the old bridges are to be removed after traffic is transferred to the new bridges, I saved a copy of the satellite image.

3D Satellite
(new window)


In Sept 2020, I got hit with a Double Doomsday. Both Facebook and Google changed their software. I used "changed instead of "updated" because the new software is not better. In fact, Google's Blogger software is far worse except for a search function that works. Specifically, it has three bugs concerning photos and their captions. So I'm no longer copying photos and interesting comments from Facebook. I'm just saving the link. I hope you can access posts in Private Groups.

Jun 18, 2023: the first span is energetically felled.
0:35 video, also in KWWL

Retro Quad Cities posted
At 7:26 am today [Jun 18, 2023], the Illinois bound span of the former I-74 bridge, aka Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge, splashed into the Mississippi River.
[The caught the splash from the severed cable falling into the river.]


Jan Danielsen posted
Taking down of the old I-74 bridge continues. Bettendorf, Iowa--Moline, Illinois. Tugboat Bette-Lynn. 4-13-23.

The last energetic felling.
City of Bettendorf, Iowa Government posted 1:15 video
SO LONG GREEN BRIDGE! In case you slept in, here's video from this morning of the controlled explosion bringing down the remaining suspension cables and towers on the old I-74 Bridge.
 
Retro Quad Cities posted
The 74 bridge is no longer

I never realized that there was a non trivial bridge on the east side between the suspension anchor and the shore until I researched the following post.
Retro Quad Cities posted
The flood of 1952 at the foot of 18th Street in Moline, showing the single span of the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge.
3D Satellite

They have since built some flood walls around the buildings.
Street View, Aug 2016


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