1873+1896+1946+1948,1985 US-67 Bridges over Rock River at Milan, IL

1873 North Channel (Sears Mill): (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter)

1873 South Channel (Milan): (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter, could not find link.)

1896 Swing Bridge over Hennepin Canal: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

1948 North Channel: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

1948 South Channel and Hennepin Canal: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

 The 1873 bridge also carried interurban traffic. (Some sources call it trolly traffic.)

ArchivedBridgeHunter_North_Channel_1873 specifies a built date of 1873, but BridgeHunter_North_Channel_1873 specifies a date of 1881. I'm sticking with the 1873 date in these notes.

The 1946 date in the title is for a temporary Bailey bridge that was used until the 1948 replacement bridge opened.

1873 North Channel (Sears Mill Bridge)

Retro Quad Cities posted two photos with the comment: "On March 18, 1946, at 7:07 pm, one span of the Rock River Bridge between Milan and Rock Island collapsed.   Milan and the rural surrounding areas lost power due to the high voltage line on top of the bridge getting severed.  Illinois Bell also lost phone service and, with the aid of a gun from the Arsenal, shot a line across the river to pull a phone circuit to Milan."

Tom Barris: The bridge was built in 1895. It was replaced by the current bridge in 1948, and that bridge was rehabilitated in 1985. [So we now have the built dates of 1873, 1881 and 1895 for this bridge.]

Bob Schaechter: I remember that...And single lane Bailey bridge that replaced it.

Retro Quad Cities shared

1

Miles W. Rich: This picture was taken from the Rock Island side next to the Power Dam toward Vandruff's Island.

[Note the interurban/trolley tracks on the bridge.]

2

John Elmo Wright commented on Retro Quad Cities' share
Looking north towards RI. What remained of the old bridge on the left. New (current) 11th Street Bridge on the right, under construction.
[That must be the Bailey bridge on the right.]

BridgeHunter_North_Channel_1873

1946 photo by The Dispatch via BridgeHunter_North_Channel_1873

Mar 19, 1946, photo by The Dispatch via BridgeHunter_North_Channel_1873

1873 South Channel (Milan Bridge)

Upper Mississippi Valley via ArhivedBridgeHunter_1873 South Channel
[The lattice-truss bridge in the background was the original Rock Island Bridge.]

1946 Bailey Bridge

Apr 27, 1946, photo by The Dispatch via BridgeHunter_North_Channel_1873

Apr 26, 1946, photo by The Dispatch via BridgeHunter_North_Channel_1873

1896 Swing Bridge over Hennepin Canal

Archive Bridge Hunter and Bridge Hunter agree that this bridge was built in 1896. 

Photo provided by John Vize via BridgeHunter_1896.
[The caption says that trollys used the railroad bridge in the background. I think that is wrong. That railroad bridge was built by the Rock Island. The Rock Island was a Class I railroad, and they would not have messed around sharing their tracks with light rail services (interurban, streetcar and/or trolley). As I noted in Photo 1 above, I think the light rail services used this road bridge.]

2012 photo by Gene Smania via BridgeHunter_1896
The caption comments: "section of rails still visible on south approach.]

Old Road

I had trouble figuring out the location of the old bridges on a satellite image. That is because the old road zigged and zagged much more than I thought it would. It is easy to locate the swing bridge because the central pier is extant. And I think that today's North Ave. was at the south abutment of the 1873 North Channel (Sears Mill Bridge).

1944/58 Milan Quad @ 62,500