Contextual View Of South Side Of Overpass Looking Northeast From Abandoned Overpass
The bridge carried US 20 in Ackley. US 20 was relocated about 7 miles south of town on October 7, 1991.
Photo by Bruce A. Harms, LBA; Summer 1996, for HAER
View photos at Library of Congress
BH Photo #122877
"Located on the northern edge of Ackley in the Etna Township on the county line dividing Franklin and Hardin Counties, the Illinois Central railraod tracks which were instrumental in the rapid development of Ackley...In 1932, the IC Overpass replaced an old wooden viaduct built in 1903. When it was built in 1932 the road which it carried was also upgraded from a local gavel road to a paved interstate highway. The new overpass is a continuous steel plate deck through girder 334' long. It is of unorthodox design having to fit at an acute angle to the railroad line. In terms of its construction, it represents the era's response to the demands of the speedier and heavier motor vehicles and the highways which had to be redesigned to accomodate them.
"This document was prepared as part of the Iowa Historic Bridges Recording Project performed durng the Summer of 1996 by the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). The project was sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation. (IDOT). Preliminary research on this bridge was performed by Clayton B. Fraser of Fraserdesign, Loveland, CO."
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