Government Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The Government Bridge rotating | |
| Coordinates | 41°31′09″N 90°34′01″W / 41.51917°N 90.56694°W |
| Carries | 2 lanes of roadway 2 rail lines of Iowa Interstate Railroad |
| Crosses | Mississippi River |
| Locale | Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois |
| Maintained by | Federal government of the United States |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Two riveted Pratt trusses Five riveted Baltimore trusses One pin-connected Baltimore swing truss[1] |
| Material | Steel |
| Total length | 1,608 feet (490 m)[2] |
| Width | 27 feet (8 m)[2] |
| Longest span | 365 feet (111 m) (swing); longest fixed spans 258 feet (79 m)[3] |
| No. of spans | 8 |
| History | |
| Designer | Ralph Modjeski[1] |
| Constructed by | U.S. Army[4] |
| Construction start | 1895 |
| Opened | 1896 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 16,800[2] |
| Location | |
 | |
The Government Bridge or Arsenal Bridge spans the Mississippi River, connecting Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. The Iowa Interstate Railroad uses the upper deck of the bridge for its ex-Chicago and Rock Island Railroad route between Council Bluffs, Iowa and Chicago, Illinois.[5][6] The lower deck carries automobile traffic between the two cities. It is located near Upper Mississippi Mile Marker 483, adjacent to the Mississippi River Lock and Dam No. 15. The current structure (which was completed in 1896) is the fourth at this location. The bridges all were built with a swing section to accommodate traffic navigating the river.
The first Rock Island Bridge, which was finished in 1856, was the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi.[7] The bridge was 1,582 feet (482 m) long, and the draw-span was 285 feet (87 m). It was located upstream from the current bridge. It was a threat to the South (which sought to create a southern rail route to the Pacific) and to St. Louis, whose steamboats faced competition from Chicago's railroads.[8] The Effie Afton struck the bridge weeks after it opened, and steamboat companies brought lawsuits. It was repaired, but was replaced in 1866 by a wooden structure in the same location. In 1868, the second bridge was damaged by an ice storm and a tornado; however, construction crews repaired and reopened the bridge. It was replaced in 1872 by a twin double-deck bridge. The third bridge, 366 ft (112 m) long, was built downstream near the Rock Island shore in the present location. During the 1880s, the bridge accommodated horse-drawn trolley cars. Electric trolleys ran on the current bridge until 1940.
- ^ a b Jackson, Donald C. (1988). Great American Bridges and Dams. Wiley. p. 198. ISBN 0-471-14385-5.
- ^ a b c "Bridges: Iowa, Illinois order safety inspections". Quad City Times. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ Hess, Jeffrey A.; Arborgast, David (February 1985). "Rock Island Arsenal: Rock Island Bridge (Government Bridge)" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ "Government Bridge (Arsenal Bridge)". historicbridges.org.
- ^ Iowa Interstate Railroad System Map Archived 2021-05-06 at the Wayback Machine. Iowa Interstate Railroad
- ^ Interstate Railroad[permanent dead link] Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce
- ^ Turner, Jonathan (February 13, 2011). "First Mississippi bridge opened 155 years ago, ushering in new era, new jobs". The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus.
- ^ Tweet, Roald D. The Quad Cities: An American mosaic. East Hall Press. 1996.