Rating:
2 votes

Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge

Douglas County, Nebraska, and Pottawattamie County, Iowa

Photos 

Aksarben toll booth

Photo taken by Eric Kinkhorst

BH Photo #171837

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Lost Whipple through truss bridge over Missouri River on Douglas Street/US 6/US Alt 30
Location
Council Bluffs, Douglas County, Nebraska, and Pottawattamie County, Iowa
Status
Replaced by new bridge
History
Built 1888; widened with 3rd truss line added 1922-1924; tolls removed 1947; replaced by I-480 bridge in 1966
Builder
- Omaha & Council Bluffs Railway & Bridge Co.
Railroads
- Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway Co. (O&CB)
- Omaha Traction Co. (OTC)
- Streetcar
Design
Whipple through truss
Also called
Douglas Street Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.25895, -95.92060   (decimal degrees)
41°15'32" N, 95°55'14" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/255322/4571617 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Omaha North
Inventory number
BH 44447 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,379)
Built 1888 (216)
Built during 1880s (1,949)
Council Bluffs, Iowa (43)
Douglas County, Nebraska (76)
Iowa (6,373)
Lincoln Highway (140)
Lost (24,034)
Lost 1966 (68)
Lost during 1960s (717)
Missouri River (118)
Nebraska (1,627)
Omaha & Council Bluffs Railway & Bridge Co. (1)
 Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway Co. (3)
Omaha Traction Co. (5)
Omaha, Nebraska (63)
Pottawattamie County, Iowa (141)
Rail-and-Road (373)
Railroad (15,217)
Replaced by new bridge (16,042)
River-To-River Road (21)
State line crossing (841)
Streetcar (271)
Through truss (14,823)
Truss (32,393)
Whipple truss (376)

Update Log 

  • September 10, 2019: New photos from Geoff Hubbs
  • August 15, 2016: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added history: Years third truss line was added to widen bridge.
  • August 15, 2016: New photo from Luke
  • August 15, 2016: New photo from Art Suckewer
  • October 7, 2014: Updated by Luke: Added categories "Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway Co.", "Railroad", "Rail-and-Road", "Streetcar"
  • April 26, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added builder
  • August 4, 2010: New photos from Eric Kinkhorst
  • March 14, 2010: Added by James Baughn

Sources 

  • Wikipedia
  • Eric Kinkhorst - erick [dot] bud [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Luke
  • Art Suckewer - Asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com
  • Nathan Holth
  • Geoff Hubbs
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Comments 

Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge
Posted August 16, 2016, by Luke

Yes, the Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge was part of the Lincoln Highway.

Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge
Posted August 16, 2016, by ArtS (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)

Barry, it looks like the Lincoln Highway logo to me but I haven't researched the route, so I'm not certain.

Regards,

Art S.

Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge
Posted August 16, 2016, by Barry (bllauver [at] toad [dot] net)

In picture #4: Is that the blue "L" logo of the Lincoln Highway painted on it? Comparing the steel members with the size of the cars and people, I can see that this was a very heavily built bridge.

Ak-sar-ben Bridge
Posted August 15, 2016, by ArtS (asuckewer [at] knite [dot] com)

Nice write-up on the history of the bridge:

http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/jim-...