1888+? UP/C&NW/CMO: (Satellite) The 1888 bridge had four 300' spans. [SiouxCityMuseum]
I had another duplicate. The information on the 1981 Siouxland Veterans Memorial Bridge has been moved to here.
CMO = Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad
Until 1979, these bridges also carried US-20. It now carries BUS-20 as well as US-77.
I use the label "bridgeRare" to denote the pontoon bridge.
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| Sioux City Museum & Historical Association posted On this day in Sioux City history: A pontoon bridge across the Missouri River connecting Sioux City and Nebraska opened on May 18, 1889. Anchored at the foot of Pearl Street, the "bridge" was really a series of boats, covered with a plank roadway. The boats were anchored with 2000-pound blocks of granite. One section was constructed so that it could swing open and allow steamboats to pass through. As crude as it was, the bridge was easier to use than the ferry. Its opening was celebrated with more than 10,000 people reportedly paying the five-cent toll to cross over the river. For more about the pontoon bridge and other Missouri River bridges, visit SiouxCityMuseum.org/history-website/transportation-bridges. |
The navigation channel for the combination bridge was on the south side. That is why the swing span is out-of-frame to the left in the above photo.
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| photolibrarian Flickr |
Sioux City Museum & Historical Association posted two images with the comment: "On this day in Sioux City history: A new bridge spanning the Missouri River from Sioux City, Iowa to Nebraska opened on January 21, 1896. An early engineering masterpiece, it was named the Combination Bridge because it allowed for pedestrian, wagon, and train traffic. Footings placed 74 feet deep provided the foundation for the concrete piers. One span of the bridge swung out over the river, pivoting on a single concrete pier and allowing boats to pass beneath it. The Combination Bridge served Sioux City for 85 years. For more about Sioux City's early bridges, visit SiouxCityMuseum.org/history-website/transportation-bridges."
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| SiouxCityMuseum "Originally, the plans were to make the bridge a double-decker, allowing wagons to cross on the top and trains on the bottom. That feature, however, was abandoned during the construction, and it ended up strictly a railroad bridge." The bridge was finished in 1888. Because it didn't allow vehicle traffic, the local businessman opened the pontoon bridge in 1889. The original bridge also reneged on the plan of allowing other railroads to use it by charging exorbitant fees. Because of the temporary nature of a pontoon bridge and the effective exclusion of other railroads, a bridge closer to the downtown was started in 1890. Because of the Panic of 1893, the bridge was not finished until Jan 21, 1896. In 1951, Nebraska and Iowa assumed ownership of the bridge. and they retired tolls were. |
It had two swing spans. The one on the Iowa side was removed in 1957. It was one of the earlier bridges made with steel instead of iron. The railroad that was supposed to use it went bankrupt before the bridge was completed. [HAER-data, p4,5]
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| Cindi Jones uploaded |
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| wikimapia |
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| SiouxCityMuseum |
It does not look like there is enough room to open the swing span.
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| HAER IOWA,97-SIOCI,1--8 8. 3/4 View of Bridge from South Shore, looking NNE. - Pacific Shortline Bridge, U.S. Route 20, spanning Missouri River, Sioux City, Woodbury County, IA and IowaHighwayEnds |
It had two swing spans because steamboats made this town.
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| HAER IOWA,97-SIOCI,1--2 2. General View of the Bridge from Prospect Hill, looking SE. and IowaHighwayEnds |
A good view of the surviving swing span.
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| HAER IOWA,97-SIOCI,1--8 8. 3/4 View of Bridge from South Shore, looking NNE. |
"The Pacific Short Line Combination Bridge was the work of three prominent names in the late 19th century American engineering: J.A.L. Waddell (chief engineer), Charles Sooysmith's Sooysmith & Company.(foundations and piers), and the Phoenix Iron and Bridge companies (fabricators and erectors). The dates of the Pacific Short Line Bridge (1890-1896) make it among the early largescale works of both Waddell and Sooysmith. It is also one of Waddell.'s and Phoenix's earliest efforts in steel bridge design and construction, at a time when the use of steel was still not universally accepted, particularly for spans of the size of the Pacific Short Line bridge. As constructed, the bridge consisted of two 470' [143m] rimbearing through Pratt swing spans and two 500' [152m] Pennsylvania through trusses. All spans were pin-connected. The bridge was built at least partially as Sioux City's response to changing developments in Upper Missouri transportation systems, as westward running railroads supplanted steamboats, which were instrumental in the city's early growth, as the principal carriers of people, goods and raw materials during the 1880's." [HAER_data]
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| This photo has been moved to the tie-arch bridge. |
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| Sioux City Museum & Historical Association posted A “Sioux City Journal” photographer captured this image on February 23, 1981 of the demolition of the north fixed span of the Combination Bridge. The bridge crossing the Missouri River had been in use for more than 85 years; it was replaced by the Veterans' Memorial Bridge. For more about the Combination Bridge, visit SiouxCityHistory.org/transportation/116-bridges. |
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| safe_image for The Bridges of Sioux City, Iowa, Photo by Jack Schmidt The second bridgehunting tour takes us to Sioux City, Iowa. In 2022, a museum curator did a presentation on the city's bridges, dating back to the first crossing in 1865. That presentation is now available for viewing. Enjoy the tour: |
This is that presentation:
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| 51:11 video |
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