Bridgehunter.com | Muscatine High Bridge

Share:

Photos

Map

Description

The road deck was 18 feet wide with a 4 foot wide sidewalk on the downstream side. Was also a toll bridge. The bridge collapsed in 1899 during winter when a piece of ice slammed into the third steel cylindrical pier on the Illinois side, causing and approach span to fall. They replaced all cylindrical piers with masonry piers (made with stone from Cedar Valley, Iowa) and reset the bridge. The bridge collapsed again on June 1, 1956 when Duane Allen Chelf crashed his Ford convertible into a wooden railing and a girder whilst running from the police (he had been speeding without his lights on). The bridge was repaired and remained open until its replacement in the 1970s It was demolished in 1973 after the completion of the Norbert F. Becky Bridge.

Facts

Overview: Lost Bridge over Mississippi River on Walnut Street
Location: Muscatine, Muscatine County, Iowa, and Rock Island County, Illinois
Status: Replaced by a new bridge upriver.
Future prospects: Single stone pier preserved
History: Built 1891; Collapsed in 1899 and again in 1956;. Demolished in 1973.
Builders: - Milwaukee Bridge & Iron Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Muscatine Bridge Co. of Muscatine, Iowa (Operator)
- Youngstown Bridge Co. of Youngstown, Ohio
Design: Cantilever
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 442.0 ft.
Total length: 2,000.0 ft.
Deck width: 18.0 ft.
Also called: High Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude: +41.42161, -91.04104 (decimal degrees)
41°25'18" N, 91°02'28" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 15/663701/4587413 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map: Muscatine
Inventory number: BH 48881 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

March 19, 2013: New photos from Luke Harden
March 19, 2013: Photo imported by Nathan Holth
September 23, 2012: New photos from Luke Harden
September 16, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added another builder
September 12, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
June 18, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Edited description
June 16, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Built by Milwaukee Bridge & Iron
March 23, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
March 10, 2012: Updated by Owen McCormick: Fixed Status Typo. Added former road information (Route 92)
January 11, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
June 8, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Updated info

Sources

Luke Harden - lukemh9 [at] gmail [dot] com
Owen McCormick
Book

Comments

Muscatine High Bridge

Posted June 8, 2011, by Lyon Wonder (lyon_wonder [at] yahoo [dot] com)

This website has early 1970s pictures of the Muscatine waterfront that includes photos of the original high bridge that was demolished after the current Norbert F. Beckey Bridge was built.

http://www.ericwestonphoto.net/muscatinecity.html

The original old bridge looks like it retained it's original wood deck until the end.

http://www.ericwestonphoto.net/galleries/muscatine/city/downtown/index3.html

It also has a 1973 photo with the old high bridge being imploded with the then new bridge in the background.

http://www.ericwestonphoto.net/galleries/muscatine/city/downtown/index9.html

Muscatine High Bridge

Posted June 8, 2011, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

Even more information including span lengths and details of construction can be found here: http://books.google.com/books?id=3mDOAAAAMAAJ&dq=Muscatine%20Bridge&pg=PA470#v=onepage&q=Muscatine%20Bridge&f=false

Muscatine High Bridge

Posted June 8, 2011, by Nathan Holth

Information about this bridge can be found here: http://books.google.com/books?id=cHkUAAAAYAAJ&dq=Muscatine%20Bridge&pg=PA305#v=onepage&q=Muscatine%20Bridge&f=false