Lake City Bridge

Photos 

Elevation From East

Photo taken Summer 1995 by Joe Elliott for the Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #122204

Map 

Street View 

Facts 

Overview

Marsh arch bridge over Raccoon River on Pedestrian Walkway in Lake City

Location

Calhoun County, Iowa

Status

Open to pedestrians

History

Built 1914 to carry M37 Iberia Avenue; Retired from vehicular use 1985

Builders

- Iowa Bridge Co. (1902-193X) of Des Moines, Iowa
- James Barney Marsh of North Lake, Wisconsin (Designer)

Design

The Lake City Bridge is an early and outstanding example of James B. Marsh's Rainbow Arch design. Unlike most reinforced-concrete arch spans in which the roadway rested on top of the arches in standard configuration, the Marsh design suspended the deck from the arch that sprang from piers and extended above the roadway. Its distinctive "rainbow" profile popularized this type of bridge, and hundreds were constructed in the 1910s, 20s, and 30s, primarily in the Midwest. The Lake City Rainbow Arch, constructed in 1914, was his first experiment in applying this patented design to a multiple span.

Historic American Engineering Record, 1995
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Dimensions

Total length: 271.0 ft.
Deck width: 18.0 ft.

Recognition

Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1989

Also called

Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge
Raccoon River Bridge
Rainbow Bridge

Approximate latitude, longitude

+42.22948, -94.75452   (decimal degrees)
42°13'46" N, 94°45'16" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

15/355215/4676745 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Carroll NE

Inventory numbers

NRHP 88002529 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 37264 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Update Log 

• October 30, 2021: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
• January 30, 2018: New photo from Kevin Skow
• January 23, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
• July 1, 2010: Updated by Nathan Holth: Updated GPS.
• August 22, 2008: Updated by J.R. Manning
• August 21, 2008: Added by J.R. Manning

Related Bridges 

• Zane Bridge (Predecessor)

Sources 

• J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
• HAER IA-46 - Lake City Bridge
• Nathan Holth
• Kevin Skow - weatherbum [at] hotmail [dot] com
• Geoff Hubbs

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