US-34 Bridges over Missouri River near/at Plattsmouth, NE

1930 truss: (Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; HAER; Satellite)

2014 steel girder: (Satellite)

The truss bridge was rehabilitated in 2008. US-34 was not moved off of the old bridge until Oct 22, 2014 when a $115m project to build an alternate route was finished. The new bridge alone cost $61m.[RadioIowa]  The1930 toll road bridge still exists to carry local traffic.

HAER IOWA,65-PAJU.V,1--13 (CT)
3/4 VIEW FROM NORTHWEST - Plattsmouth Bridge, Spanning Missouri River at U.S. Highway 34, Pacific Junction, Mills County, IA
[It looks like the BNSF bridge needs to be painted.]

HAER IOWA,65-PAJU.V,1--5
5. 3/4 VIEW FROM NORTHEAST - Plattsmouth Bridge, Spanning Missouri River at U.S. Highway 34, Pacific Junction, Mills County, IA

"It is the oldest extant Missouri River highway bridge into Iowa....The War Department, in granting permission to build the bridge, insisted on a clear channel span of at least 400', with an unobstructed height above high water of at least 55', in order to accommodate future river traffic." Modjeski & Chase were the consulting engineers. The actual design was done by the contractor, Omaha Steel Works. "The superstructure was erected with the aid of two traveling derricks which moved along rails temporarily laid on the deck and progressing simultaneously from both ends of the bridge. Falsework was used for the anchor arms of the cantilevered portion of the superstructure, but there was no falsework underneath the main channel span. The two ends of the bridge were joined by completion of the center suspended span. This required considerable precision in both the placement of piers 1 and 2, and in the fabrication and erection of the steel. The steel for the superstructure was fabricated during that portion of the summer when temperatures averaged 90 degrees, and it was assumed that the erection would be performed during the latter part of October with an anticipated temperature of about 50 degrees, according to trends indicated by federal weather bureau reports. This meant that there could be a temperature differential of up to 40 degrees between time of fabrication and erection, thus potentially causing a variation of 3 3/4" in the length of the upper chord of the cantilevered portion of the superstructure. When the work had progressed to the point where completion of the center span was imminent, activity was delayed for several days before the ambient temperature dropped to a point allowing final connection. At that time the traveling derricks hoisted the center sections of the floor support and dropped them into place. The holes matched perfectly and the lower chord was riveted together without difficulty. Connection of the upper chord required a even lower temperature, which was reached on the following day." The bridge opened in 1930, but it wasn't until 1934 that the needed connecting roads were completely paved. Consequently, the tolls collected during the first four years were about 40% of those estimated by a traffic study that was done before the bridge was built. [HAER-data]

 

This is the new US-34 bridge that opened in Oct 2014.

Photo from RadioIowa
"Estimates show the bridge will initially carry 2,000 vehicles a day, ramping up to 11,000 vehicles a day in the years to come." [I wonder how many vehicles cross the I-80 bridges in a day. One of the articles talked about the land along the new US-34 east of US-75 becoming developed. I hope that development stops at Harlan Lewis Road because a satellite image shows that water sometimes flows over the land east of Harlan Lewis.]
The span over the navigation channel is 500'. [That has to be a long span for a steel girder bridge.]

Also from JournalStar, courtesy photo
[The content was cut&pasted from someone's press release because I've already read the text.]

On the left is the BNSF bridge before the new one was added. This truss bridge is on the right.

Don Wetmore shared
Amtrak #6 the California Zephyr exits the deep cut at Plattsmouth, Nebraska to cross the Missouri River. Before they dug the cut there was a sharp curve at the end of the bridge and the tracks ran on the far side of the bluff at left.   Photo by Don Wetmore on March 13, 1994
Cate Kratville-Wrinn: Love this too! I used to own the Plattsmouth toll bridge behind it. My great grandpa built it.

Street View
[The new BNSF bridge is peaking through the trees on the left. The roadway is just 20' wide curb to curb. [HAER-data]]

One reason to keep this bridge is that it recovered from the 2019 floods before the new bridge did! The problem was not the bridge itself, but Lambert Avenue in Iowa. They did get Lambert opened by the time that I-29 was opened. [omaha, Jun 19, 2019] Not only was the new bridge still closed when this bridge opened, the new route had been closed earlier in 2019. [KETV, May 24, 2019]

This article suggests the Plattsmouth toll bridge is still open to traffic.

http://fremonttribune.com/cass-news/news/plattsmouth-officia...

In 2007, the city of Plattsmouth bought the toll bridge for $1 from the Plattsmouth Bridge Co. and created a commission to operate and maintain it. Built in 1929, the 402-feet-long, cantilevered truss bridge cost about $700,000.

The new bridge obviously will reduce toll revenues, Portis said, but it will also reduce wear and tear on the Plattsmouth bridge, which was refurbished in 2008.

"One fully loaded (semi) truck does as much damage as 2,000 cars," he said, adding that the city would like to see more cars than trucks use the toll bridge.

He thinks semi drivers and farmers hauling grain will use the new U.S. 34 route to avoid stop-and-go traffic through Plattsmouth and save fuel, and that many Plattsmouth and Glenwood, Iowa, residents will still use the old toll bridge because it's an easy way to cross the Missouri River and saves them several miles. The toll for a car is $1.50.

[Lyon Wonder comment on Bridge Hunter]

Eighteen wheelers are motivated to avoid this bridge because of a sharp turn on the Nebraska side. Why wasn't the bridge built another 100' downstream? I guess they wanted the flatter land on top of the bluff to build the toll booth. After all, 18-wheelers did not exist in 1930.

Satellite

The Nebraska approach follows a severely winding alignment for about a quarter mile, as it ascends the bluff. A tight hairpin turn and reverse curve at the toll booth, located just west of the Nebraska abutment, is difficult for large vehicles to negotiate. Tractor-trailer rigs often have to pass on the "wrong" side of the toll house, moving into the opposing traffic lane, in order to negotiate the turn at the western portal of the bridge. Considerable damage has been done to the ornamental ironwork of the western portal by trucks attempting to make the turn. [HAER-data] 

So why was the new bridge built so far north of Plattsmouth?

Photo via IDOT

I presume that one reason was to avoid building over the Schelling Wildlife Management Area.

Satellite

Another reason was to connect with a better road in Iowa that had terminated at I-29.

Global Earth, Sep 2011

Global Earth, Sep 2013

Zooming in on the bridge building activity. It looks like it took almost as long to build those two little approach roads as it did to build the bridge.

Global Earth, Mar 2012

Global Earth, Sep 2012

Global Earth, Oct 2014